ABSTRACT
Just-in-Time (JIT) for Healthcare is a succinct overview of the core methods of Lean healthcare that are explored in more detail in other titles in the Lean Tools for Healthcare Series. The purpose of the series is to introduce readers to a set of methods that have been proven to dramatically increase patient safety and reduce the cost of providing healthcare services. Lean or JIT tools and methods have important origins in the United States but were perfected principally within the Toyota Motor Company between 1948 and 1963, and have since been adopted by most sectors of the manufacturing industry. Throughout healthcare, one can see patients waiting: waiting to be seen by their clinicians, waiting for an appointment, waiting to be admitted, waiting for a room, waiting to be taken to the bathroom, waiting for lab results, or waiting to be discharged. In JIT, patients pass smoothly through the process, ideally one at a time.
