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Healthcare Six Sigma & Quality Article Archive
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Quality Spotlight Archive | Management Spotlight Archive | Tools Spotlight Archive Readers' Choice: View All Top-Rated Articles Archives by Year: 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 - Quick Trip from Launch to Leadership at Virtua Health
Little more than five years after launching an ambitious, system-wide Six Sigma improvement initiative, Virtua Health in New Jersey, USA, is now considered a high-performing healthcare organization and a model for others to follow. Read the full article. November 18, 2009
- Hospital Project Reduces 'Bed Sores' to an Industry Low
When a Houston hospital found it had a 12 percent incidence of pressure ulcers - exceeding the 7 percent national average - it put a team in place and launched a project to reduce the incidence of pressure ulcers by half within a nine-month period. Read the full article. November 4, 2009
- Guidelines and Matrices for Picking Six Sigma Candidates
Finding Green Belt and Black Belt candidates with the right person and professional traits is a proven method for building a successful Six Sigma program. Developing and using a Pugh matrix can help in the critical candidate selection process. Read the full article. October 21, 2009
- Lean Fills Prescription for Change at Hospital Pharmacy
The process improvement journey at Jordan Hospital took a large step forward last year when the organization was introduced to Lean Six Sigma concepts as part of a departmental optimization effort for its internal pharmacy. Read the full article. October 7, 2009
- Case Study: Using DOE to Reduce Wasted Supplies in CTU
A team at New York’s North Shore-LIJ Health System completed a project addressing the challenge of keeping the hospital environment safe from the transfer of drug-resistant pathogens, while also cutting back the waste and cost involved in doing so. Read the full article. September 23, 2009
- Reducing Admitting Delays by Improving Bed Management
A Six Sigma project team addresses causes of admitting delays. Business case for the project is clear. Improving bed management is aligned with hospital's goal to be where employees want to work, patients want to receive care and physicians want to practice. Read the full article. September 9, 2009
- Breaking the Bar Code Myth: A Real Path to Patient Safety
It is time to refute some of the claims about the power of bar codes to deliver gains in patient safety. And, at the same time, reinforce Lean and Six Sigma as significant tools in improving processes that actually can ensure patient safety. Read the full article. August 26, 2009
- Beyond Tools and Training: Adopting a Systems Approach
Using Six Sigma or some other improvement program is only part of a winning strategy. Prevailing over the issues that challenge healthcare requires a combination of committed leadership, unbridled innovation and a comprehensive systems approach. Read the full article. August 12, 2009
- Stratification Leads to Specialized Improvements
The stratification process starts with a broad population and breaks it into manageable segments. Quickly done up front with some basic statistics, it can be used to identify, quantify, isolate and manage the routine and the noise in processes. Read the full article. July 29, 2009
- Reducing Door-to-Inflation Time for the AMI Patient
At Deaconess Health System in Evansville, Indiana, USA, a Six Sigma team undertakes a door-to-inflation project to improve the throughput process for AMI patients, from arrival at the ED until inflation of the artery in the cardiovascular lab. Read the full article. June 3, 2009
- Demonstrating Chart Turnaround Success Gains Buy-in
A lack of buy-in is most common in organizations that are new to Six Sigma. How can practitioners sell Six Sigma? It is simple – by setting up a demonstration case of successful use. This approach emphasizes the “seeing is believing” mode of selling. Read the full article. May 20, 2009
- Power of Lean in the Laboratory: A Clinical Application
Improvement ideas are frequently considered in most organizations, but it is all too rare that these ideas are actually acted upon. Lean offers a powerful set of tools to pursue and implement these ideas in any industry, including healthcare. Read the full article. May 6, 2009
- Process Model Improves Wound Care Turnaround Time
When routine analysis of turnaround times at LDS Hospital revealed that the ED treatment of patients with simple lacerations took an average of more than two hours, the process for treating wounds was analyzed and streamlined by a project team. Read the full article. April 22, 2009
- Choosing Kaizen to Overcome Challenges in ED Project
After being compelled to reset a project several times because of a major upheaval in the emergency department, a Black Belt team leader decided to schedule a Kaizen event and the team delivered ED improvements in three areas in only four days. Read the full article. April 8, 2009
- Reducing Avoidable Cancellations on the Day of Surgery
With an objective of accommodating continued growth in surgical service without adding new rooms and resources, a Six Sigma team at Deaconess Hospital takes aim at reducing the number of same day surgical cancellations. Read the full article. March 25, 2009
- Applying Transactional Lean at Medical Imaging Firm
University Medical Imaging (UMI) in Brighton, New York, USA successfully implemented a Lean and Six Sigma transactional process improvement and training program when delays and other issues began to affect patient satisfaction. Read the full article. March 11, 2009
- Improving Staff Scheduling at Providence Health System
When Providence Alaska Medical Center discovered it was above the 75th percentile of the national average in labor costs, it began a Six Sigma project to improve its process for scheduling staff. The result was a culture change and lower costs. Read the full article. February 25, 2009
- Six Sigma Helps Public Healthcare Meet Community Needs
Using Lean Six Sigma’s principles in the field of public health will enable organizations to develop effective models to improve their operations, deliver care effectively and efficiently, and create positive health outcomes within their community. Read the full article. February 11, 2009
- A Successful Pain Management Initiative at LDS Hospital
Despite already having adopted many best practices, LDS Hospital in Salt Lake City discovered a problem in the rapid treatment of pain in the emergency department. The staff immediately began a pain management initiative to remedy the problem. Read the full article. January 28, 2009
- Improving a Health System's Cash Flow Management
The healthcare industry is going through mergers and acquisitions and facing new economic trials. As hospitals consolidate resources regionally, a big challenge takes shape: handling the information necessary to manage cash flow efficiently. Read the full article. January 14, 2009
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