Six Sigma Strategies and Health Informatics
Since Motorola first introduced Six Sigma strategies in the 1980’s, its methodologies have been adapted to fit every major industry setting. With its emphasis on improving business processes through data driven goals, Six Sigma offers great applications for eliminating the inconsistencies, redundancies and unnecessary waste in the current healthcare system.
Implementing Six Sigma in healthcare settings isn’t new. Hospitals have been using Six Sigma for at least a decade to streamline clinical processes and administrative procedures with strong bottom-line results. It makes sense that Six Sigma strategies will also be helpful when streamlining record-keeping, building a better billing system and keeping track of large amounts of data.
In order to implement Six Sigma strategies to their fullest, complete cooperation from top executives is vital. Procuring the resources necessary to implement Six Sigma and train necessary staff and leaders is important for achieving the highest return on investment. Professionals with training and experience with Six Sigma in healthcare can have a competitive advantage as more jobs become available.
For hospitals and other healthcare settings that have already achieved great success with Six Sigma in other areas, adapting Six Sigma to address the medical record challenge should be an easy decision. As competition increases for patients in the coming years, those facilities that can pass some savings on to their customers or funnel resources toward creating a better patient experience can succeed over those that remain inefficient and unresponsive to customer needs.
Six Sigma is Already Providing Impressive Results in Hospital Settings
Six Sigma strives to deliver a better product with fewer “defects” over time. In a manufacturing setting this is interpreted as creating a product that is 99.99966% free from errors. It is sometimes interpreted as 3.4 defects per million opportunities. In hospital settings, by enlisting the help of trained Six Sigma Yellow, Green, Black and Master Black Belts, executives can typically see impressive results. The most impressive results can be achieved with a long-term top down and bottom up commitment to Six Sigma methodologies, and many hospital executives and hiring managers look for well-trained Six Sigma professionals to lead their project implementation and management teams.
Specific Six Sigma Strategies for Improved Medical Record-Keeping
Six Sigma projects use an organized and logical approach to problem solving. This approach focuses on customer satisfaction and uses well-constructed metrics to drive profitable bottom line goals. In general the Six Sigma process progresses through the following standard steps:
- Define the problem
In the case of electronic record compliance the problem is clearly defined. However, converting files to an electronic format is just part of the process. It is also necessary to create an infrastructure for medical professionals to effectively use this data and maintain the systems, and for patients to fully understand why compliance can provide them with better care.
- Measure key aspects; collect data
Six Sigma looks at the current processes that support the long-term outcome of the product and collects data on what is working and what is not working. Holistically looking at the entire landscape can help create a more responsive and reliable product or service.
- Analyze the data to identify and verify cause-and-effect relationships
Six Sigma is focused on getting to the root cause of why some policies, procedures and infrastructure can prevent an organization from reaching important bottom line goals. The fractured and bifurcated approach to medical record keeping that currently varies from division to division within the same company is a perfect challenge for Six Sigma. The end result of tackling this problem will be the construction of a better health informatics system to comply with Federal mandates and reach aggressive profit goals.
- Improve the current process using carefully constructed metrics and set up pilot programs that can be tailored and are responsive to varied clients
Not all healthcare settings will need the same thing from an electronic record-keeping system. Companies that send a large number of home-health nurses into the field for instance need an infrastructure where professionals can easily and securely access data from remote locations. For physicians who see a multitude of patients with complicated cases, the data needs to be presented in a logical way that the physician can efficiently use to quickly address clinical diagnosis. Keeping the users and clients in mind when tailoring a solution is a hallmark strategy of Six Sigma effectiveness.
- Controls are set in place to monitor usage, collect client feedback, document errors and establish a plan for ongoing improvement and adaptation
Six Sigma is an adaptive set of processes supported by highly detailed metrics that are used to drive ongoing improvements and monitoring. Six Sigma involves a long-term commitment to a process that offers proven ROI when all stakeholders are securely invested in the process.
Informatics professionals play a large role in systems development and employee training and careers in health informatics continue to grow. The professional rewards can be great for top professionals willing to do what it takes to position themselves for this important opportunity. It is a historic moment in US healthcare, and well-trained Six Sigma professionals have the strategies and focus needed to drive this epic shift in health informatics.
