INTRODUCTION OF TECHNOLOGIES OF LEAN PRODUCTION BEING A WAY TO IMPROVE THE ORGANIZATION PROCESSES IN A DENTAL CLINIC

Abstract

In 2017, the priority project “Creation of a new model of a medical organization providing primary health care”, approved by the Presidium of the Presidential Council for Strategic Development and Priority Projects, Protocol No. 8 dated 26.07.2017, was launched, and in 2019, the criteria for a “New model of a medical organization providing primary health care” were developed and implemented in the methodological recommendations of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation [6]. Lean manufacturing technologies are used for their implementation in the daily practice of medical organizations. The article presents the concept of “lean production”, considers the necessary conditions for the effective introduction of this concept in the activities of the city dental clinic, identifies the most vital issues in the organization of outpatient dental care for the population and works out methods to eliminate them. With the help of a sociological survey of patients and employees of the dental clinic, the main problems in this organization were identified, which were: patient’s making appointment with a doctor; work of the receptionists; long queues; excessive time spent by a dentist -therapist for admission of one patient. The method of observation (timekeeping) was used, which made it possible to determine the time spent by patients at the reception desk, which at the beginning of the study was 5-10 minutes. A survey of employees, especially among the middle and support staff, revealed that 75,7 % did not estimate organizational improvements. Proceeding from this survey, to effectively introduce new organizational technologies, the psychological perception of the upcoming changes by the staff needs to be altered. Possible solutions to improve existing processes using lean manufacturing technologies are also proposed.