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

Lean Japan Tour - Takatsuki General Hospital Visit

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 activities in Japanese hospitals have 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.

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 and program dates, see the lean tour overview page.