AHP framework to assist lean deployment in Abu Dhabi public healthcare delivery system

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to introduce lean concept to the field of healthcare management, expands the conceptualization of lean management beyond the manufacturing companies to consider key waste reduction opportunities which are posited to be requisites to lean practices and implements the proposed framework in the three public hospitals in Abu Dhabi. Design/methodology/approach – This research is designed by decomposing complex and unstructured issue into a set of components organized in a multi-level hierarchical form. To deal with this complexity of multi criteria decision-making process, analytical hierarchical process (AHP) method is used in this research. Findings – AHP framework for this study resulted in a ranking of 21 healthcare wastes based on the evaluations of local situations by experienced healthcare professionals. It has been found that management in healthcare systems of Abu Dhabi is putting more emphasis on the inventory waste. Research limitations/implications – The future directions of the research would be to apply a lean set of tools for the value stream optimization of the prioritized key improvement areas. Practical implications – This is a contribution to the continuing research into lean management, giving practitioners and designers a practical way for measuring and implementing lean practices across health organizations. Originality/value – The contribution of this research, through successive stages of data collection, measurement analysis and refinement, is a set of reliable and valid framework that can be subsequently used in conceptualization, prioritization of the waste reduction strategies in healthcare management.