PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Itrat Mehdi
AU  - Bassim J. Al Bahrani
TI  - Are we prepared to implement a Lean philosophy within cancer-care service in Oman?
AID  - 10.15537/smj.2017.7.17712
DP  - 2017 Jul 01
TA  - Saudi Medical Journal
PG  - 691--698
VI  - 38
IP  - 7
4099  - http://smj.org.sa/content/38/7/691.short
4100  - http://smj.org.sa/content/38/7/691.full
SO  - Saudi Med J2017 Jul 01; 38
AB  - Lean, as it applies to business, has come to signify simplicity, swift response, and efficiency. The concept is to do more with less; namely, to use resources in the most productive way possible through the elimination of all types of waste. The Lean approach can be applied to any field, including healthcare, in which the exponential growth of costs is widespread. Hospitals began experimenting with Lean healthcare in 1990s. Equal accessibility to healthcare is consistent with the tenets of social justice and a society’s duty to ensure basic healthcare to everyone. However, the gap between a state’s constitutional responsibility and resource availability is widening, creating a need for an evolution in healthcare provision based on relevance, objectivity, and impartiality. Health-services providers must juggle limited resources to ensure even-handed healthcare availability to all in the era of cost explosion.