BMC Health Services Research
Improving patient flow and hospital capacity through governance-oriented Lean bed management: an action research study
Abstract Background Emergency department overcrowding and prolonged boarding times are widely recognised as manifestations of systemic failures in hospital flow governance rather than physical capacity constraints. Despite growing evidence supporting Lean-based approaches, most published interventions focus on isolated processes, with limited attention to governance redesign at a system level. This study examines a governance-oriented intervention aimed at improving patient flow through the redesign of bed manageme …