Analysis of Articl Regarding the Use of Six Sigma in Healthcare

Executive Summary

The healthcare industry is one that utilizes processes that require a zero tolerance for mistakes. Utilizing the Total Quality Management (TQM) approach, most healthcare institutions find that their method of data collection and analysis through TQM is not sufficient for employing root cause analysis.

Six Sigma is a management philosophy that is essentially a process quality goal that measures and attempts to eliminate the variability in processes (Revere and Black, 2003). Originating in the manufacturing sector, the methodology seeks to allow no more than 3.4 defects per million opportunities for defect or 99.99966 percent through the following: “define, measure, analyze, improve, and control (DMAIC)” (Adams, Gupta, & Wilson, 2003). In other words, Sigma is the statistical measurement of the process. Six Sigma defines defects as anything that results in customer dissatisfaction. This methodology has not been widely implemented in healthcare due to existing TQM processes, which are compliance driven with an aim to meet Joint Commission Accreditation of Healthcare Organization’s (JCAHO) standards. Furthermore, administrators fear that there can be a considerable cost to implementing Six Sigma as a primary methodology, especially after time and financing has been utilized on a previous TQM system. However, in the instance where a facility has an existing TQM system, Six Sigma can easily be added to enhance the TQM processes already in place (Revere & Black, 2003).

Revere and Black’s 2003 article Integrating Six Sigma with Total Quality Management: A Case Example for Measuring Medication Errors demonstrates how an environment that requires zero tolerance for mistakes in a process such as medication administration can benefit from the combination of TQM and Six Sigma.

Problem

Revere and Black’s 2003 article takes place in a hospital setting, which requires zero tolerance of mistakes. Like most hospitals, the one selected for this article employed a TQM infrastructure and approach to quality management. The problem that is presented is that the TQM approach when applied to the medical mistake of medication errors still yielded over 15% in medication errors that resulted in serious harm or death. According to the authors, this is due to the inability of standard TQM methods to drill down to the necessary detail to determine the root cause of the issue.

To solve this problem, the healthcare facility integrates Six Sigma into its established TQM infrastructure. Existing quality improvement interdisciplinary teams can determine the opportunities of failure that Six Sigma evaluates in its analysis. The process of identifying failure via the Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA) will be utilized for the Sigma calculations and documentation of the facility’s improvement programs, which are required

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