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Purpose The purpose of this work was to survey the current body of knowledge on Kaizen events (KEs) in hospitals, which hospitals may use as a Lean Production tool for continuous improvement (CI) in their operations. The study identifies key aspects related to hospital KE practice, the improvement tools applied and the beneficial outcomes achieved. The results can be utilized by hospitals that apply Lean continuous improvement in their pursuit of operational excellence (OE). Design/methodology/approach A systematic literature review (SLR) was conducted to evaluate the current body of knowledge, resulting in an assessment that characterizes the critical content aspects of the research domain. Three primary databases were surveyed for relevant articles, including ProQuest, Web of Science (WOS) and Engineering Village. Findings A total of 64 papers were identified through the SLR. The findings suggest that improvements resulting from KE interventions can support hospital operational goals, enhance stakeholder satisfaction and enhance clinical outcomes, including those related to delivering quality patient-centered care. Furthermore, standardizing practices within this research domain can significantly support the pursuit of OE in hospitals, particularly when leveraging management and improvement science methodologies and tools to generate knowledge and transfer learnings related to critical KE planning, implementation and performance sustainability. The extraction of critical insights to guide the formulation of standards for KE implementation and practice is expected to be of significant value in driving OE. Research limitations/implications This work utilized a limited number of databases (ProQuest, Web of Science and Engineering Village). Future studies could include additional databases, examine other dimensions of KE practice, explore other dimensions of KE-OE and address other key research questions to gain more comprehensive insights into the research topic. Originality/value This study comprehensively evaluates KEs in hospitals by applying a robust systematic process among three scholarly databases. The study seeks to advance the critical knowledge area, particularly for healthcare improvement practitioners, by identifying key hospital KE-OE elements, improvement tools and performance outcomes relevant to advancing hospital operations. The research offers informative insights for standardizing the implementation and practices of KE within hospitals, supporting OE. Advancing operational efficiency at many hospitals is highlighted in numerous success cases. However, the integration of OE with KEs in relation to advancing hospital operations remains underexplored.