lowvalue

Low value describes a condition in which the perceived benefit of a product, service, or action does not justify the cost, risk, or effort required. Value is typically defined from the perspective of the customer or end user; activities that do not change the desired outcome or quality are considered low value.

In manufacturing and business operations, low-value activities are those that do not add value to the final product or service from the customer's standpoint. In lean thinking, such activities are labeled non-value-added, and many organizations remove or reduce them to shorten lead times, lower costs, and improve efficiency. Common examples include unnecessary approval steps, duplicate data handling, waiting times, and rework.

In healthcare, the term low-value care refers to medical tests, treatments, or procedures that provide little or no benefit for specific patient groups relative to their costs, risks, or potential harms. Reducing low-value care is a target of quality and patient-safety initiatives, with guidelines and campaigns that promote evidence-based decision-making and de-implementation of ineffective practices.

Value assessment relies on frameworks such as cost-benefit analysis, cost-effectiveness analysis, and value-based prioritization, which require explicit assumptions about costs, outcomes, and stakeholder preferences. Because value is context-dependent, what is low value in one setting may be valuable in another.

Limitations: The term is normative and subjective; identifying low-value activities requires careful analysis of goals, time horizons, and user preferences. It is used to guide resource allocation, process improvement, and policy decisions.