Making cars and making health care: a critical review

To the Editor: It is pleasing to see the acknowledgement by contributors of the fundamental premise that the fragmentation of health care may reduce the quality provided, which was a key argument of our article.1 Our aim was to provide space for critical appraisal of “lean thinking” and its application to health care, by questioning the assumed theoretical basis from which this approach is derived and enquiring about the evidence for long-term benefits relating to patient outcomes. We wished to engender discussion and debate rather than provide a systematic review of existing literature. To this end, we think our aim has been achieved.