Lean Six Sigma Model In Nursing

HEALTH CARE MODELS

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Abstract

Healthcare has changed over the years. Over hundred years ago nobody questioned the doctor.

Today patients are encouraged to be active in their care. Patient involvement has led to quality improvement models. Akron Children’s Hospital has been using the lean six sigma model of continuous quality improvement with some success. The lean six sigma is customer driven, targets variation, focuses on processes, prevents defects, focuses on quality, attentive to business, and training. The transformational model is an organizational learning system to achieve continuous quality improvement. These components are shared responsibility, multiple level leadership, value-driven process, shared decision making, continuous planning,

One reason is easy access to medical information using the internet. Today patients are encouraged to be active in their care. Patient involvement has led to quality improvement models. I will go over two models, the transformational and lean six sigma. These are the two best models out there in my opinion. Let’s start with Lean Six Sigma.

Lean Six Sigma

Akron Children’s Hospital has been using the Lean Six Sigma model with some success.

How is the lean six sigma model different from other models? Figure 1 shows these differences.

As you can see from the figure the lean six sigma is customer driven, targets variation, focuses on processes, prevents defects, focuses on quality, attentive to business, and training. Other model and internally driven, use of averages, cares about outcomes, fixes defects, focuses on quality, looks at production, and training is separate from management. My current employer uses some of these. The six sigma relies on data, process, and outcomes. Per HealthIT.gov there are five steps to the six-sigma model, figure 2 shows the DMAIC acronym.

 Define- What is the problem

 Measure- Quantify the problem

 Analyze- Identify the cause of the

Reducing appointment waiting times from 4 days to 1.6 days.

Increasing the surgical department so they can do more surgeries. Better communications with the patient have reduced cancellation/no-shows boosting revenue $104,000. Akron’s offers its employees six different levels of training in lean six sigma. These are:

 A3. Front-line staff take an 8-week program that empowers them to identify problems in their departments and come up with solutions.

 Blue Belt. Problem-solving for hospital leaders

 Green Belt. Leading long-term projects while become proficient with lean six sigma  Kaizen. Improve standardized practices and eliminate waste

 Blueprint for Healthcare Design. Using lean six sigma to help design new hospitals  Lean Boot Camp. Learning to incorporate lean six into their daily work.

As you can see, Akron’s use of the Lean Six Sigma has helped with cost savings, decreased waiting times, increased communications between clinics and patients, and fixed inaccuracies. Although this model is customer driven and it will affect continuous quality improvement, it is more of a reduction of wasteful spending program.

HEALTH CARE MODELS

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Transformational