Applying Six Sigma in Health Care

While Six Sigma has spread throughout the corporate world, it is just now making inroads into the health care industry.  In hospitals, this has meant initiatives to achieve more efficient and satisfactory patient care and business organization.  A more profound incorporation of the program seems to be on the horizon, however, as increasing numbers of hospital CEOs are showing interest in the program.  For hospitals this would mean the need to break down actions into their component parts and examine each part for inefficiencies and errors.  For many in the industry this seems to run counter to the belief that each patient should be treated individually and actions should accordingly be individual.  What such an interpretation fails to understand however, is that all patients must undergo similar imputting and basic care processes. Health Facilities Management Reports:

Six Sigma does not simply focus on cutting budgets. It focuses on the processes themselves–doing them better and faster and, consequently, doing them at lower cost.  Six Sigma can be applied to any activity or transaction in the health facilities management department where quality, timeliness and costs are concerns.