‘Going to Gemba’—an accreditation specialist relates how Lean Six Sigma experience can work in healthcare
Briefings on The Joint Commission, January 1, 2010
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As a healthcare accreditation consultant and quality management professional, I have been exposed to a variety of improvement models within healthcare organizations: Plan, Do, Check, Act (PDCA), Total Quality Management (TQM), Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI), Quality Control (QC), and Rapid Cycle Improvement. All of these view process as a sequence of activities and communications that focus improving services to the customer or improving the quality of an outcome.
Most recently, I encountered a 500-bed acute care, academic teaching facility in the Midwest that was rooted in the practice, philosophy, and tools of Lean Six Sigma (LSS). The vice president of quality was a physician hospitalist, LSS-trained and green belt-certified, as were many of the system quality leaders reporting through the quality division at this hospital.
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