Optimizing clinical operations as part of a global emergency medicine initiative in Kumasi, Ghana: application of Lean manufacturing principals to low-resource health systems.

Background: Although many global health programs focus on providing clinical care or medical education, improving clinical operations can have a significant effect on patient care delivery, especially in developing health systems without high-level operations management. Lean manufacturing techniques have been effective in decreasing emergency department (ED) length of stay, patient waiting times, numbers of patients leaving without being seen, and door-to-balloon times for ST-elevation myocardial infarction in developed health systems, but use of Lean in low to middle income countries with developing emergency medicine (EM) systems has not been well characterized.

Objectives: To describe the application of Lean manufacturing techniques to improve clinical operations at Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) in Ghana and to identify key lessons learned to aid future global EM initiatives.