How Lean Administration significantly improves patient flow

To demonstrate the impact of Lean Hospital, LMX uses an interactive simulation. At the “Get Well Hospital”, elective and emergency patients are treated and go through the entire patient journey – from administrative admission, through admission to the ward and selected treatments, right through to discharge.

In addition to patient flow, the simulation also highlights the flow of information and key administrative activities, such as those in admissions or controlling. The simulation impressively demonstrates how closely medical, nursing and administrative processes are interlinked.

In the first round, participants experience typical – often well-known – pain points: waiting times, queries, media breaks and a lack of coordination. These are analysed using Lean methods and specifically improved.

In a second round, the optimised process comes to life:

a smoother patient flow, significantly reduced waiting times and noticeably better coordination between all those involved.

Experiencing the Lean Hospital in a playful way

Most of us have a hospital story to tell – whether from our own experience as a patient or as a relative. Many of my stories begin in a similar way:

Upon arrival at the hospital for an elective procedure, it all starts in the waiting area outside the admissions desk. The room is full – plenty of time to go through the documents I’ve brought with me once more. The nerves are rising: has everything been filled in correctly? Is anything missing? My stomach is rumbling; I must have an empty stomach. After administrative admission – thankfully, all the documents are in order – I head back to the waiting area, as the ward isn’t ready to admit me yet. On the ward, the next wait begins: the room and bed still need to be prepared.

These stories are characterised less by medical treatment than by waiting times, queries, uncertainty and a lack of transparency.

Lean management in hospitals means consistently creating the greatest possible value for patients. This encompasses not only the quality of medical care, but also the entire ‘supporting infrastructure’: clear processes, reliable information and a smooth organisational framework.

Lean Administration comes into play precisely here. It improves the flow of information between all parties involved, synchronises administrative and operational processes, and ensures that relevant information is available at the right time. Unnecessary waiting times are reduced, queries are avoided, and transitions – such as between admissions, the ward and discharge – are made significantly more stable.

The analysis and optimisation of admission and discharge management, including administrative admission, is just as much a part of LMX’s expertise as the further development of key administrative areas – from HR and quality management to finance and IT.

Example: Current state analysis and optimisation using the example of an emergency patient with a hip joint injury

Lean Maturity Level

In autumn 2026, there will be a special edition focusing on maturity levels in hospitals.

In the spring, the special edition “What does Lean Management need to make an impact?” was published just in time for the LATC. The findings are based on 200 valid responses from the second survey cycle and reveal striking results, such as why the desired impact fails to materialise despite a high level of activity, and that empowering employees plays a key role.

At the LATC 2025, Judith Fellsches already presented the results of the first nationwide and cross-sector Lean study on maturity levels in Germany. Click here for the presentation: https://leanbase.de/academy/lernmodule/wann-ist-ein-unternehmen-lean-ergebnisse-und-hinte

You can join at any time:

https://studie.lmx.eu/umfrage