As a traditionally hardworking and thrifty people, the Japanese have discovered numerous innovations in business, and the main reason for this is the special philosophy of business that is nurtured in Japan. Also known as the „Land of the Rising Sun”, Japan has become a synonym for business process improvements, especially the Toyota production system, from which the most prominent forms of improvement such as the Kaizen philosophy and Lean production emerged. Continuous improvement or Kaizen implies small radical changes in the company, while Lean aims to reduce waste, i.e. get rid of activities that do not add value. The combination of these two methods creates a dual system based on small changes that eliminates unnecessary activities, which leads to an increase in value and profit-generating activities in companies, and thus to cost optimization. The foregoing represents the conditions for quality assurance, which in today's changing world is one of the strategic concepts from the point of view of the functioning of production-oriented companies. Health systems need precisely such concepts in their management, because the period of the pandemic caused by the Covid-19 virus further worsened the situation in health systems around the world. Based on research, many experts have concluded that the implementation of Kaizen and Lean has created a positive effect in American and European hospitals in the areas of reducing errors and losses. If these methods act as an „elixir”for improving quality, the Croatian health system should find in them a role model due to its short comings related to increased costs, lack of manpower, the need for better equipment and better organization of workplaces.