Whether your goal is to improve the accuracy of patient enrollment data, optimize patient flow, reduce turnover time in the operating room, or reduce patient complaints--Lean Six Sigma may be your answer... Lean and Six Sigma are two premier performance improvement methodologies, designed to change the face of modern health care delivery .

Lean's primary objective is to eliminate waste so that all work adds value and serves the patient/employee's needs. Six Sigma is a measure of quality that strives for near perfection; it is a disciplined approach for eliminating mistakes. By leveraging Lean and Six Sigma principles, hospitals and health systems are able to optimize technologies, create a healthier bottom line, increase staff and patient satisfaction and improve quality.

Mayo Clinic, considered the "best of the best", implemented Lean principles and realized the following results:

• Cancellations and no-shows dropped from 30% to 10%
• The number of high-yield patients rose from 150 to 200 per month
• Process steps went from 16 to 6
• Wait time fell from 33 days to 3 days, a reduction of 91%
• First time quality rose from 5% to 65%

Another example of this trend took place at the Baptist Hospital in North Carolina. A summary of the positive outcomes realized after implementing Six Sigma is shown below (Charlotte Business Journal 8/10/07 article by Mikel Chavers):

• Shaved 41 minutes off average time needed to take heart attack patients from the emergency department to the cardiac cath lab for treatment
• Saved $203,432 in one year when cardiac ultrasound and stress testing processes were improved

There are countless examples of how Lean and Six Sigma are revolutionizing the health care industry throughout the Carolinas and across the country! Click on the link below for more details and see "Quick Links" for more examples.

Referring to the health care industry, Scott Shafer, professor of management at Wake Forest University's Babcock School of Management explains, "There's no industry probably in the world right now where it's more important not to make mistakes". (Charlotte Business Journal article, Mikel Chavers, 8/10/07).

To help facilitate the improvement in organizations' quality control processes, CPCC has certified more than 300 Six Sigma Green Belts and more than 20 Six Sigma Black Belts during the past year and a half.

Contact CPCC's Corporate Training Advisors to find out how we can assist your organization in implementing these processes. You too will discover how Lean Six Sigma will have a tremendous impact on your bottom line! (See Quick Links to find out more about local projects initiated by CPCC participants in the Health Care Industry)