scholarly journals Utilization of Lean & Six Sigma quality initiatives in Indian healthcare sector

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (12) ◽  
pp. e0261747
Author(s):  
Gaurav Suman ◽  
Deo Raj Prajapati
Keyword(s):  
Six Sigma ◽  
National Level ◽  
Lean Six Sigma ◽  
Healthcare Sector ◽  
Survey Questionnaire ◽  
Quality Initiatives ◽  
Direct Benefits ◽  
Healthcare Improvement ◽  
Quality Tools ◽  
Survey Questionnaires

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the utilization of Lean & Six Sigma quality initiatives in healthcare sector in India. Methodology The survey questionnaires were sent to 454 hospitals through registered postal in all the states of India. The survey questionnaire was designed to assess different quality initiatives; currently implemented in Indian hospitals, factors align with organization’s objectives, reasons for not implementing Lean & Six Sigma and contribution of Lean & Six Sigma projects in healthcare improvement projects etc. A separate section in the questionnaire provides the feedback on implementation of Lean & Six Sigma in various hospitals. The relationships between Lean & Six Sigma and healthcare performance have also been established in this paper. Findings It is found that 15 Nos. of hospitals have implemented the Lean tools while 14 Nos. have implemented the Six Sigma tools out of 109 collected responses. This shows the utilization of Lean & Six Sigma in Indian healthcare sector. The ‘Lack of knowledge’ and ‘Availability of resources’ are the major reasons for not implementing Lean & Six Sigma. It is also observed that 22% running projects were related to Lean & Six Sigma out of various improvement projects running in various hospitals. Originality There is lack of evidences of similar studies that determines the utilization of Lean & Six Sigma in Indian healthcare sector at the national level. This paper will provide important breakthrough to academicians and healthcare practitioners, who are involved in Lean & Six Sigma research. Social implications The present study will create awareness among healthcare practitioners across India for utilization of quality tools that will provide direct benefits to the society.

scholarly journals Lean Six Sigma Methodology: The Nub to Boost the Public Healthcare System in Egypt

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 67
Author(s):  
Wael Omran Aly
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Six Sigma ◽  
Healthcare Service ◽  
Service System ◽  
Lean Six Sigma ◽  
Public Health Care ◽  
Healthcare Sector ◽  
Public Healthcare ◽  
The Public ◽  
The People

For many decades, the Egyptian people have suffered from deplorable public healthcare service featured by indolence, malfunction and traditionalism. Although, healthcare is a distinctive service industry concerning various complicated responsibilities; but the consecutive government of Egypt had badly handled such issue. Then, the apathetic performance of the public healthcare service becomes a dilemma for the people of Egypt; especially the poor among them. Therefore, the foundation of an adequate public healthcare service system, that respect the dignity of the people and respond to their arising health care needs; was frequently on the agenda priorities of the Egyptian governments after the 2011 and 2013 uprisings. Hence recently, the government -after reaching political and economic stability- seeks to build an ambitious newly public health care system to meet the expectation of the people to acquire high standard inexpensive and hasty public healthcare services. Consequently, in order to realize such aim; the Egyptian government had established the public agency for accreditation and quality control according to law no.2 of comprehensive healthcare insurance system issued at 2018. Then, it urges a national campaign to reform the public healthcare sector and to develop the efficacy and quality of its services. Hence, this paper aims to propose how the public healthcare organizations in Egypt can tackle various challenges and enhance adequately its capabilities; in order to be able to adopt the proposed Lean Six Sigma (LSS) methodology effectively; which can then provide an adequate framework for creating organized improvement exertions in healthcare; necessary to bestow guidelines on how to manage a quality service system to patient satisfaction by decreasing waste, variation and work disparity in the service processes.

scholarly journals Efficiency Improvement and Quality Initiatives Application in Financial Institutions

2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 133
Author(s):  
MSc. Ajtene Avdullahi ◽  
MSc. Vjosa Fejza
Keyword(s):  
Quality Management ◽  
Financial Institutions ◽  
Six Sigma ◽  
Financial Services ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Lean Six Sigma ◽  
Total Quality ◽  
Quality Initiatives ◽  
Efficiency And Effectiveness ◽  
Customer Segment

Financial institutions in today’s economy have no longer the luxury to improve profit simply by increasing revenue. These firms, due to the significant measuring reductions in the financial services industry needed to improve operational efficiencies and merely support existing processes with fewer resources. This paper explains the benefits of Lean, Six Sigma, Total Quality Management and Lean Six Sigma that have improved organization's performance, by cutting costs and waste, improving their products or services, increasing profitability as well as enhancing customer satisfaction. The applicability of quality management practices in financial institutions in Kosovo is presented and also their efficiency and effectiveness. By analyzing data from Raiffeisen Bank Kosovo, this paper highlights the benefits of Individual and Micro companies customer segment as the result of organizational change and successful application of quality initiatives from financial institutions in Kosovo.

Application of Lean Six Sigma in conservative dentistry: an action research at an Indian dental college

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ajay Noronha ◽  
Shreeranga Bhat ◽  
E.V. Gijo ◽  
Jiju Antony ◽  
Suma Bhat
Keyword(s):  
Action Research ◽  
Six Sigma ◽  
Single Case ◽  
Lean Six Sigma ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Healthcare Sector ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Conservative Dentistry ◽  
Tools And Techniques

PurposeThe article evaluates the obstacles, lessons learned and managerial implications of deploying Lean Six Sigma (LSS) in a dental college hospital in India.Design/methodology/approachThe work adopts the action research (AR) methodology to establish a case study, which is carried out using the LSS define–measure–analyze–improve–control (DAMIC) approach in a dental college. It uses LSS tools to enhance the productivity and performance of the Conservative Dentistry Department of a dental college and to unravel the obstacles and success factors in applying it to the education and healthcare sector together.FindingsThe root cause for high turn-around time (TAT) is ascertained using LSS tools and techniques. The effective deployment of the solutions to the root causes of variation assists the dental college to reduce the TAT of the Conservative Dentistry process from an average of 63.9 min–36.5 min (i.e. 42.9% improvement), and the process Standard Deviation (SD) was reduced from 2.63 to 2 min. This, in turn, raises the sigma level from 0.48 to 3.23, a noteworthy successful story for this dental college.Research limitations/implicationsWhile the results and recommendations of this research are focused on a single case study, it is to be noted that the case study is carried out with new users of LSS tools and techniques, especially with the assistance of interns. This indicates the applicability of LSS in dental colleges; thus, the adopted modality can be further refined to fit India's education and hospital sector together.Originality/valueThis article explains the implementation of LSS from an aspiring user viewpoint to assist dental colleges and policymakers in improving competitiveness. In addition, the medical education sector can introduce an LSS course in the existing programme to leverage the potential of this methodology to bring synergy and collaborative research between data-based thinking and the medical field based on the findings of this study. The most important contribution of this article is the illustration of the design of experiments (DOE) in the dental college process.

Lean Six Sigma for the healthcare sector: a multiple case study analysis from the Indian context

2019 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 90-111 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shreeranga Bhat ◽  
Jiju Antony ◽  
E.V. Gijo ◽  
Elizabeth A. Cudney
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Six Sigma ◽  
Medical Records ◽  
Lean Six Sigma ◽  
Healthcare Sector ◽  
Value Stream Mapping ◽  
Private Hospitals ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Multiple Case ◽  
The Impact

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the voice of the customer, key performance indicators, critical to quality characteristics, critical success factors, and commonly used tools and techniques for deploying the Lean Six Sigma (LSS) strategy in Indian private hospitals, with special attention to the medical records. Design/methodology/approach The study utilizes the action research methodology to obtain a greater understanding of the use of LSS in the Indian healthcare sector. Multiple case studies were designed and successfully deployed to understand and ascertain challenges in LSS implementation. Five case studies were carried out in the Medical Records Departments (MRD) of four private hospitals in India. Findings Patients perceive that waiting in queue harms their health, which can be rectified by addressing the cycle time of the system. The research also found that effective leadership, availability of data, involvement of cross-functional team and effective communication are critical to the success of LSS projects. In addition, control charts, cause and effect diagram, 5S, gemba, two-sample t-test, standardization, waste analysis and value stream mapping are some of the common tools used to improve healthcare systems. Research limitations/implications The research was restricted to studying the impact of LSS on the workflow and resource consumption of the MRD in Indian allopathic hospitals only. The validity of the results can be improved by including more hospitals and more case studies from the healthcare sector in different countries. Originality/value The findings will enable researchers, academicians and practitioners to incorporate the results of the study in LSS implementation within the healthcare system to increase the likelihood of successful deployment. This will provide greater stimulus across other departments in the hospital sector for wider and broader application of LSS for creating and sustaining process improvements.

Application of Lean Six Sigma methodology in the registration process of a hospital

2014 ◽  
Vol 63 (5) ◽  
pp. 613-643 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shreeranga Bhat ◽  
E.V. Gijo ◽  
N.A. Jnanesh
Keyword(s):  
Six Sigma ◽  
Single Case ◽  
Lean Six Sigma ◽  
Healthcare Sector ◽  
College Hospital ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Control Approach ◽  
Registration Process ◽  
Six Sigma Methodology

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to study the scope of Lean Six Sigma (LSS) strategy and to explore its successful deployment in the Indian healthcare sector. Design/methodology/approach – The research reported in this paper is based on a case study carried out using the LSS DMAIC (Define-Measure-Analyze-Control) approach and its application in improving the registration process in the Health Information Department (HID) of a Medical College hospital in India. Findings – The study describes improvements in the HID through the power of LSS. Cycle time of the process was reduced from three to 1.5 minutes and the SD was reduced to 21.2 from 61 seconds. The project has shown a 94 per cent reduction in patients’ average waiting time. The study also reported a 91 per cent reduction in queue length and 48 per cent reduction in percentage of scheduled utilization of staff for the process. Research limitations/implications – The paper is based on a single case study executed in a hospital and hence there is limitation in generalizing the specific results from the study. But the approach adopted and the learning from this study can be generalized. The study is of use to healthcare practitioners seeking to implement or develop LSS further in their organizations. Originality/value – Although LSS being extremely successful in the last two decades, the application of LSS to the healthcare industry in general and HID in particular has been limited. This study illustrates how its application can improve the performance of the process and thus productivity in the department.

New Paradigm of Lean Six Sigma in the 4th Industrial Revolution Era

2020 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sung Hyun Park ◽  
Su Mi Dahlgaard-Park ◽  
Dong-Chun Kim
Keyword(s):  
Six Sigma ◽  
Success Factors ◽  
Industrial Revolution ◽  
Open Data ◽  
Statistical Modelling ◽  
Lean Six Sigma ◽  
New Paradigm ◽  
Quality Initiatives ◽  
In The Beginning ◽  
The Impact

<p><strong>Purpose:</strong> In early 2000s Six Sigma and Lean were combined into Lean Six Sigma (LSS), which has been one of the major strategic quality initiatives all over the world. Now, we are in the era of the 4th Industrial Revolution (IR), which changes almost everything including LSS and quality management (QM) in the companies. We need new paradigm of LSS to boost LSS activities in this 4th IR era. In this paper, the typical characteristics of the 4th IR are investigated, and desirable new paradigm of LSS is presented.</p><p><strong>Methodology/Approach:</strong> The changing characteristics of production strategy, quality goal and quality strategy with regard to QM in the 4th IR are discussed and presented. Then the new and emerging paradigm of LSS in this 4th IR era is discussed in detail. Also 9 success factors for this new paradigm of LSS are shown for practitioners in the industry.</p><p><strong>Findings:</strong> The direction of the new paradigm of LSS will be ‘simple, speedy and smart’, which may be called ‘3S paradigm’. Simple open procedures and simple statistical modelling tools will be mainly used. Speedy on-site improvement based on Open Data, Big Data and artificial intelligence (AI) will be favoured. Also smart mass customized ‘Smart Factory’ method will be emphasized.</p><p><strong>Research Limitation/implication:</strong> Since we are in the beginning stage of the 4th IR, there are not many research papers which study the impact of this revolution to LSS and QM, which is the major research limitation.</p><strong>Originality/Value of paper:</strong> This paper suggests some new and emerging paradigm of LSS, which could be of high value.

scholarly journals Lean Six Sigma implementation and sustainability roadmap for reducing medication errors in hospitals

2020 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-55
Author(s):  
Yaifa Trakulsunti ◽  
Jiju Antony ◽  
Jacqueline Ann Douglas
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Medication Errors ◽  
Six Sigma ◽  
Phase 1 ◽  
Hospital Setting ◽  
Lean Six Sigma ◽  
Healthcare Sector ◽  
Phase 3 ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Key Characteristics

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to propose a Lean Six Sigma (LSS) roadmap to guide healthcare practitioners in the implementation of LSS along with a customized LSS tool kit for reducing medication errors.Design/methodology/approachThe authors initially critically reviewed several frameworks/roadmaps of Lean, Six Sigma and LSS which have been proposed in healthcare sector from the existing literature. This review has led to an understanding of key characteristics, limitations and reasons behind the development of such frameworks/roadmaps. A conceptual roadmap was developed and then validated by a number of LSS experts and a healthcare practitioner. Based on the previous studies and taking LSS experts’ opinions into account, a revised roadmap for reducing medication is presented.FindingsThe roadmap for LSS in reducing medication errors is developed. This roadmap includes three phases: Phase 1 cultural readiness for LSS employment in reducing medication errors; Phase 2 preparation, initialization and implementation; and Phase 3 sustainability.Research limitations/implicationsThe roadmap has been tested with only a handful of practitioners of LSS. Moreover, only two case studies have been carried out in a Thai hospital setting which followed the roadmap. In order to improve the validity of research, more case studies need to be executed and more people should be used for testing the roadmap with varied cultures.Originality/valueThis is the first attempt in the development of a LSS roadmap that healthcare practitioners can follow to reduce medication errors using LSS methodology and sustaining LSS in their organizations.

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