Six Sigma For
The Laboratory
Due to growing
concern of quality and increasing health awareness Six Sigma for the
Laboratory is also getting popular and it won’t be wrong if we say
Six Sigma for the Laboratory has already found its place. The
Quality Laboratory focuses on statistical modeling, data analysis,
and knowledge discovery in manufacturing, service, and transaction,
with an emphasis on Six Sigma quality excellence. As the healthcare
industry grapples with financial pressures, limited resources,
changing regulations, personnel shortages, the public’s increased
attention to quality of care and other challenges, many
organizations have found hope from an unexpected source – Six Sigma.
Six Sigma for
the Laboratory is an extremely effective strategy that businesses
outside of healthcare have been using for several years to improve
customer satisfaction, achieve extremely high levels of process
performance and identify cost savings rapidly. More recently,
healthcare organizations, providers and accreditation groups have
expanded their quality initiatives to include implementing Six Sigma
for the Laboratory strategies with great
success.
Six Sigma for
the Laboratory can greatly improve a healthcare organization’s
financial and operational performance because it identifies and
aligns improvement initiatives with strategic objectives and key
processes across the entire system. In fact, the direct involvement
of executives, the focused alignment with organizational strategic
objectives and an increased array of statistical tools are the
cornerstones of a process excellence method. Six Sigma For The
Laboratory examines quality, as defined by the customer or patient,
in order to focus on the requirements and expectations that are
truly critical and measurable.
A large mid
western hospital used Six Sigma for the Laboratory to tackle the
problem of having a significant number of inaccurate case carts sent
to their delivery rooms. The problem caused surgery delays and
significant time lost in retrieving correct instruments and
supplies. Surgeons and staff were very dissatisfied. A Six Sigma
project team defined the problem, collected measurements and data,
analyzed the current process, investigated key factors and
implemented an improved process with recommendations on how to
sustain the improvement and hence the need for Six Sigma for the
Laboratory.
Six Sigma for
the Laboratory projects in healthcare are focusing on direct care
delivery, administrative support and financial administration.
Examples of beneficial Six Sigma for the Laboratory projects in
healthcare include:
- Patient
satisfaction;
- Speed and
accuracy of admissions;
- Bed
availability;
- Care
co-ordination;
- Accuracy of
laboratory results;
- Rapid
emergency room treatment;
- End-of-life
care;
- Surgery
scheduling;
- Inventory
control;
- Supply
chain;
- Billing
accuracy;
- Insurance
denials;
- Documentation; and
- Human
resources.
Common outcomes
of Six Sigma for the Laboratory implementation include
higher-quality care, more effective administrative and support
processes, significantly reduced defects, higher quality of service,
improved timeliness, greater customer satisfaction, improved staff
morale, reduced costs, better utilization of resources, increased
market share and improved organizational
performance
