The power of lean in healthcare: Alpha Diagnose increases gross profit by 62% in one year

The pursuit of operational excellence in healthcare services has gained a strategic ally at  Alpha Diagnose Oftalmologia: lean thinking. In a sector marked by growing challenges — cost pressure, rising demand, quality requirements and patient experience — the clinic decided to adopt the lean philosophy as its guide for transformation.

After one year of the project, the results are compelling: reduced waste, increased capacity, significant revenue growth and the team's cultural engagement. The case shows that applying lean healthcare is not only possible, but highly beneficial for healthcare organizations that want to combine quality with business sustainability.

Sustainable growth: the numbers behind the change

Between March 2023 and February 2024, the clinic recorded a significant jump in its gross revenue, with monthly variations that at times exceeded 50% compared with the same period of the previous year.

The impact is clear. In April, revenue went from R$ 198 thousand (2023) to R$ 382 thousand (2024) — an increase of more than R$ 180 thousand in just one month. Overall, gross earnings grew 62%, proving that this is not a “seasonal effect,” but a consistent trend.

Another measurable effect was the expansion of service capacity, which exceeded 1,700 patients in some months — a milestone for a clinic specializing in ophthalmology. This expansion was not the result of expanding the physical facilities or significantly increasing staff, but of improving the flow of processes and making smarter use of existing resources.

In other words: Alpha Diagnose managed to put into practice one of the fundamental principles of Lean: growing efficiently, doing more with less, without compromising quality.

Lean as a cultural decision before a financial one

According to Thaine Almeida, operations coordinator at Alpha Diagnose, who led the project, the motivation for adopting lean was linked from the outset to the pursuit of excellence:

“Understanding our directors' priorities, it was always clear how much excellence in patient care and in processes is valued. The main motivation was to evolve as an institution, increase efficiency and reduce waste, without losing Alpha's essence, with humanized care and attention to the patient from beginning to end.”

This view is reinforced by Dr. Alfonso Nomura, medical director and partner at the clinic. For him, lean was a means of transforming organizational thinking, reducing dependence on leaders for day-to-day decisions:

“The great principle was to change the company's culture, give employees autonomy and create more fluid processes, where the company would not depend on the owner to function. We created a culture where problems are part of everyday life. People began to look at the process as a whole and to take ownership of both the problems and the improvement actions.”

The pillars of the lean transformation

Figure 1 — Clinical team in a visual alignment meeting, demonstrating how Lean eliminates waste and optimizes patient flow.

Success did not happen by chance. It was sustained by fundamental lean practices, adapted to the healthcare context:

• Process standardization

  By creating clear, replicable workflows, the clinic reduced errors, variability and rework. This ensured more predictability in patient care and less stress for the team.

• Daily rounds

  Short alignment meetings made it possible to identify problems quickly, propose countermeasures and engage everyone in the search for solutions. This practice is equivalent to a “daily check-up” of the system.

• Visual management and transparency

  Indicators became visible to everyone, promoting clarity about goals and results. This exposure strengthened collective responsibility and increased motivation.

In addition, the transformation was led by a cross-functional team of 28 people, including administrative and clinical professionals and the owners themselves, Dr. Alfonso Nomura and Dr. Anelise Bregalda. The engagement of leadership was decisive in consolidating lean discipline throughout the process.

In the view of Dr. Anelise Bregalda, the transformation brought clear gains in both engagement and financial results: people began to feel part of the improvement process.

For Thaine, the impact of lean was also deeply personal and professional:

“I came to understand how results are directly linked to the right way of carrying out processes. I used to be afraid to delegate. Today I understand that developing people is essential to growing together with them.”

From the patient's point of view, lean also generated perceived value. According to Dr. Alfonso, the experience improved throughout the journey:

“The patient perceives a service that resolves things, at the right time, in the right measure, doing neither more nor less. There is broader care, but with efficiency.”

Why does lean work in healthcare?

Traditionally, lean is associated with manufacturing, especially with Toyota, where it was born. But its essence — eliminating waste, creating continuous flow and generating real value for the customer — is fully applicable to healthcare.

In the clinic, “value” means offering the patient fast, safe, high-quality care, while the business ensures financial sustainability.

“Waste,” in turn, can be unnecessary waiting lines, redundant movement of patients and staff, rework in exams, communication errors or even idle time in consulting rooms.

By attacking these inefficiencies, lean frees up capacity that was “hidden” in processes, allowing more patients to be seen without the need for large additional investments.

This logic has also been observed in leading hospitals in Brazil and around the world, which adopted lean to reduce average length of stay, surgery delays and even hospital infection rates. The Alpha Diagnose case reinforces this evidence: when there is discipline and engagement, healthcare can be as lean as industry.

Lessons for clinics and hospitals

The Alpha Diagnose experience offers practical lessons for healthcare managers:

1. Start small, but consistently – daily rounds and simple visual indicators can already generate major cultural changes.
2. Involve leadership – the active support of physicians and managers was decisive in making Lean not just a project, but a transformation.
3. Focus on the patient as the “end customer” – the main goal is not just to increase revenue, but to create a fluid, safe, waste-free experience.
4. Celebrate results and learn from mistakes – team engagement grew because progress was visible and shared with everyone.

Lean as a strategy for the future of healthcare

Figure 2 — Satisfied patient during an ophthalmology appointment, representing business sustainability and excellence in the future of healthcare.

The Alpha Diagnose case shows that lean can be a competitive differentiator in the healthcare sector, capable of balancing two seemingly opposing challenges: delivering more value to the patient and increasing the sustainability of the business.

More than a set of tools, lean is a change of mindset: seeing problems as learning opportunities, reducing waste and continuously pursuing improvement.

At a time when healthcare systems face budget constraints and growing demand pressure, clinics and hospitals that adopt lean will be better positioned to adapt, grow and deliver truly patient-centered care.