Purpose
The purpose of this study was to investigate how Lean Six Sigma (LSS) may help mitigate the impact of COVID-19 within health care environments. The goals of this study were to understand the current knowledge of LSS and COVID-19 through a systematic review of the current literature, identify the gap in the current knowledge of LSS in COVID-19 mitigation within health care environments and define the principles of LSS, within organizational resilience that support a health care organization’s ability to mitigate the impact of COVID-19.
Design/methodology/approach
A narrative literature review was conducted to identify relevant research. A total of 21 subject matter experts (SMEs) meeting the inclusion criteria were approached through a guided interview process. Content analysis was conducted to describe how LSS principles contribute to supporting health care organizations operating in the era of COVID-19.
Findings
Study results report that personal safety is the primary subject, followed by supporting dimensions of process redesign, and telemedicine. LSS topics that directly relate to COVID-19 are in four thematic areas: tools, applications, benefits and challenges. Particular areas of application, techniques, challenges and benefits are identified and discussed that could be applied proactively and reactively, to organizational and supply chain resilience to recover from COVID-19.
Research limitations/implications
There were a number of limitations to the generalizability of this work. The sample size was small and purposeful, thus, external validity of the study results are not determined. The SMEs in this study have not implemented the practices noted in the results at the time of the study, and knowledge of results is limited to the study aims.
Originality/value
This study of LSS principles and COVID-19 has implications for practitioners and offers specific guidance for areas of health care adoption of LSS techniques and tools that benefit patient safety, challenges for the user to be mindful of and potential benefits in resilience of operations in the era of COVID-19.
Background: Work related low back pain has been identified as a one of the most costly disorders among the worldwide working population. This condition was highly prevalent that approximately 85% patients having back pain were brought on by prolonged sitting. With the rapid development of modern technology, sitting has now become the most common posture in today's workplace. Idea of using motor control learning approach provides the optimal control and coordination of the spine. The McKenzie evaluation was received using repeated movements and sustained positions. Therefore high quality randomized clinical trial was required to compare the effectiveness of these treatments for work related low back pain. Objectives: To compare the effectiveness of motor control exercises and McKenzie exercises in reducing pain and disability in work related low back pain. Method: The study included 40 subjects with work related low back pain due to prolonged sitting. They were randomly allocated into two groups (Group A and Group B). Group A was treated with motor control exercises and group B was treated with McKenzie exercises for 4 weeks. Results: Both the groups have shown statically significant improvement in vas with p < 0.0001 and ODI with p < 0.0001. When the comparison was done after the 4 weeks, the percentage of improvement in group A was much higher than Group B. Conclusion: The study concluded that motor control exercises have shown statically and clinically significant improvement in reducing pain and disability when compared to McKenzie exercises among work related low back pain subjects.
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