5s system in healthcare: an islamic point of view

lean thinking requires certain techniques and tools to support lean processing and to penetrate an organization in which 5s system (sorting, set in order, shining, standardization, sustaining) is to develop value process workflow system. kanban, a card containing a set of manufacturing specifications and requirements used to regulate the supply of components, is one of the most famous and important lean tools. 5s system is in fact a technique to minimize wastes in the workplace and thereby can establish a better environment, a better communication, optimize productivity and eventually provides a general 5s system in the organization. 5s system has been founded in the west and was developed in japan and evolved all around the world. development and acceptance of 5s system in various countries with different cultures indicates that the concepts of this system are compatible with a variety of cultures. there are some lessons and doctrines in islam and iranian national culture which are compatible with the 5s system and can facilitate the acceptance of this system. lean processing emphasizes on performing the best well-organized task in the most appropriate place and in the first opportunity to reduce waste and optimize the processes in line with the customer’s needs. industrial societies have long used lean management to improve their processes. in addition, arrival of lean management in healthcare system had significant impacts on management structure and providing healthcare services. healthcare system can remarkably improve its performance through implementing the lean management system and provide the services in a just-in-time (jit) and an optimized level for the clients. this new approach system has been established as a cultural strategy in order to provide high quality services at lowest price during the shortest time in hospitals. 5s system is a tool, a management system and a philosophy for changing the approach of hospitals toward a managed and organized method. this system is a methodology which allows hospitals to increase quality of health care with reducing errors and waiting time. 5s system is an approach to support health staff and physicians, eliminate the current obstacles in the workflow and help them to merely focus on providing patient’s healthcare. therefore, the present study aimed to introduce the establishment of the 5s system which is one of the major lean tools in the healthcare system and extend its principles with an islamic view. this was an unsystematic review study conducted in 2012 using the google engine search in sites of journals, the holy quran, nahj-al-balagha, bihar-al-anwar, al-kafi, kanz al-a’mal, wasael al-shia, and al-khesal and using keywords of 5s system, lean, health system, healthcare, set-in-order, discipline, purification, cleanliness, hygiene, purity, durability in full texts and abstracts. approximately, 100 articles, verses, hadiths and abstracts were obtained among which 45 cases were found to be related with the objects of this study. regular enforcement of the 5s procedures can provide a clean and sanitary environment. moreover, efforts to establish correct habits in staff is the most important factor in accomplishing standardized and sorted workplaces and this major factor is done by implementing the fifth technique (5 th s i.e. sustaining). an organized environment is due to provide high quality services.