Of all the industries where efficiency should be top priority, it’s healthcare. Not only is this important for patients but also for medical staff and administration. Even as technology and medicine have advanced, many of the processes continue to lag behind.
Just about any process in healthcare can be a candidate for Six Sigma. These projects might include surgical procedures, patient handling, information flow, medication administration, and patient charge items. Six Sigma has also been shown to improve lab turnaround times, reducing appointment wait times, decreasing steps in the supply chain, and accelerating reimbursement for insurance claims. All of these point to how much better the overall efficiency of an organization can be by taking the steps within Six Sigma.
Six Sigma has been extremely successful in manufacturing, service, and retail industries, and now it’s time for the healthcare industry to fully participate in this method to drastically change the healthcare industry for the better. Patients are happier, physicians want to work for you, and cost is as low as possible, while maintaining maximum productivity. Six Sigma courses can help with critical service issues and with automation of processes that might even be life threatening.