Takatsuki General Hospital – Site Tour
Takatsuki General Hospital is part of Japan’s Aijinkai Group of healthcare facilities located in Osaka Prefecture. The hospital is regarded as one of the leading hospitals in Japan. With 29 medical departments, it also serves as a regional acute care hospital and handles an average of 1,000 outpatients a day.
General Information
- Hospital: Takatsuki General Hospital
- Foundation: 1985
- Location: Takatsuki City, Osaka Prefecture
- Affiliation: The Aijinkai Healthcare Corporation
- Number of departments and hospital beds: 29 medical departments with 477 beds
Takatsuki General Hospital – Lean Characteristics
TQM, QC Circle, Kaizen
Takatsuki General Hospital is one of the leading hospitals in Japan particularly in the area of pediatrics and neonatal intensive care. The hospital is in Takatsuki City in Osaka and serves as a prominent acute care hospital for the region. It has also been certified by the Japan Medical Service Accreditation for International Patients (JMIP) where international patients can also receive reliable and secure medical services through multilingual consultations.
The hospital is affiliated with the Aijinkai Group, which is considered a leader in the application and adaption of lean management principles to healthcare and is also recognized for its innovative approach to healthcare services.
Similar to the aims of lean application to manufacturing, there is a need to manage business processes within healthcare to cater for increasing patient and caregiver expectations related to safety, quality, and lead time of care, and business pressures related to cost and capacity.
Kaizen in Japanese hospitals has been strongly influenced by Total Quality Management (TQM). The recorded history of TQM application to healthcare in Japan dates back to 1972, and today a very large number of hospitals in the country including those in the Aijinkai Group have active TQM related activities, with staff encouraged to participate in QC Circle improvement groups as part of their professional development. Staff efforts related to improvement activities are recognized through presentation days held at the hospital, and at regional and national levels.
It was an exciting experience learning about Japan’s culture and industrial mentality. I had the honor of seeing and experiencing the industrial culture in Japan and exploring the reasons for its prosperity based on the principle of “kaizen”, as well as witnessing the work environment in a distinctive way embodied in the principle of 5S. It was…
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I am deeply grateful to Shinka Management, and to Paul, Eri and Ichi, for an outstanding Lean Japan Tour experience. Their expertise and hospitality made the journey both educational and enjoyable. The insights gained from visiting world-class lean organizations were invaluable, and the dedication of the Shinka team to ensuring we absorbed practical knowledge was…
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This was my third visit to Japan with Shinka Management and it is difficult for me to find the right words to express my gratitude for such a well-organized tour and my appreciation for the high quality and on-target content. In my previous visits I received very valuable information related to continuous improvement principles and…
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We learned from the masters (sensei), who were filled with wisdom, passion and experience. The Lean Japan Tour content was very practical and made a lot of sense. We received excellent hospitality from Paul and Craig of Shinka Management.
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Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
My experience on the Lean Japan Tour: – High level of attention and kindness with all participants; – Quality of content in the classroom; – Knowledge and experience of senseis; – Experiments in the dojo; – High-quality company visits; – High-quality hotels, meals and transports.
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The Lean Japan Tour was well organized and full of passion, knowledge and hands-on practice. I was glad to join the program. Thanks a lot to the Shinka Management team.
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The Shinka Management Lean Japan Tour is a professional development program run several times annually. The program includes a mix of lean and kaizen seminars, hands-on lean training and visits to several benchmark lean companies. For further information about our Lean Japan Tour and Lean Healthcare Tour programs, see the lean tour overview page.
Tour Inquiries
Interested in joining us in Japan? For additional information prior to registration please fill in the form provided or contact us.