Case Report of Six Sigma at Academic Medical Hospital

Introduction: Six Sigma is a business management strategy designed to meet customer needs and process capability. Six Sigma seeks to improve the quality of process outputs by identifying and removing the causes of defects and minimizing variability in manufacturing and business processes. It uses a systematic project-oriented fashion through define, measure, analyze, improve, and control (DMAIC) cycle, including statistical tools, and creates a special infrastructure of people within the organization (like "Black Belts", "Green Belts", etc.) who are experts in these methods. Each Six Sigma project carried out within an organization follows a defined sequence of steps and has quantified financial targets (cost reduction, profit increase, etc).
Overview:
Project name: Six Sigma at Academic Medical Hospital (AMH) Problem: Patients with potentially life-threating injuries and illnesses are waiting for over an hour for treatment in Emergency Department at AMH! Although long wait times seemed to be readily excuses by many physicians due to complexity of managing emergency room and processes and clinical staff, it is still unacceptable for the patients. Targets: help Emergency Department (ED) at Academic Medical Hospital (AMH) to reduce the wait time Method: instituting Six Sigma at AMH and establishing a Six Sigma Foundations Teams, which undertake an application practicum on an assigned AMH project with, cooperate trainers acting as coaches. Six Sigma Foundation TEAM: Champion: Dr. Elbridge (establishes business targets and creates an environment within the organization to promote the Six Sigma methodology and tools) Sponsor: Dr. Terry Hamilton (key communicator and approves final recommendation) Owner: Nancy Jenkins (implementation and accountable for sustaining long-term gains) Black Belts: Jane McCrea (project leaders who are experts in Six Sigma methodology and statistical tool applications) Green Belts: Dr.