Lean six-sigma (LSS) applications in hospitals: a decade (2011–2020) bibliometric analysis

PurposeThis study examines the research landscape of Lean Six-Sigma (LSS) applications in hospitals for the period of the last decade (2011–2020) to derive answers to the research questions RQ 1: What are the current publication trends for the application of LSS in hospitals concerning document type, Journal (Source), active authors and country-wise publications and their comparison in the two most reputed scientific databases, i.e. Scopus and Web of Science (WoS), RQ2: What are the clusters based on the authors and keywords? RQ3: What are the research trends and author's productivity in LSS applications in Hospitals? RQ4: What are the future research areas?Design/methodology/approachThis article compares these two databases (Scopus and WoS) based on publication pattern, document type, active authors and co-citation analysis. This article analyzes the core sources, author's productivity, globally cited articles, word growth analysis, thematic map and world collaboration map on the WoS and Scopus dataset. The software used are Vosviewer, Biblioshiny (R Package for Bibliometric) and M.S. Excel.FindingsThe application of LSS in hospitals is a niche theme. In the WoS database International Journal of Lean Six-Sigma and in Scopus database International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance are the most relevant sources publishing research articles in this field. The USA has the highest scientific production in this field. Among the authors, Antony J is the most active author in this area, with the highest contribution over the years.Originality/valueThis study fills the literature gap by mapping the field of LSS in hospitals.