Quality Improvement Methods

Successes in health systems rarely come by accident. There is usually a process improvement plan behind success story in healthcare. Process improvement is the act of improving the entire service process rather than tackling individual problems.  However, improving a healthcare process is not as easy as it sounds. Sometimes, managers introduce valuable ideas to improve…

Inefficiency is a widespread problem in healthcare processes. Inefficiencies can cause low productivity and interfere with the workflow. However, the major problem is that most times, hospitals do not know the actual cause of inefficiencies in their processes. Hence, adopting a Kanban board can help managers identify areas of defects in their processes. By doing…

There is usually a controversy about lean vs six sigma. Although most people would readily pick one over the other, both methods have certain differences and similarities.  Lean and six sigma are both techniques managers use to help improve quality and efficiency. With lean, businesses are able to control their costs, eliminate wastes and create…

Kaizen is a Japanese word that means “improvement”. It originated from the Japanese business philosophy of continuous improvement. This business philosophy made Japanese manufacturing companies more efficient than their counterparts. This made companies in the USA also adopt this business philosophy in the late 1980s. As much as kaizen offers a lot of benefits to…

Six Sigma is a management methodology that aims at eliminating defects and waste. It also helps to reduce variations in business processes to the barest minimum. However, to achieve effective results, organizations employ six sigma tools to drive systematic and strategic improvements in their processes. Also, six sigma professionals make use of these tools to…

The concept of six sigma was introduced for the very first time in the 70s. A senior executive at Motorola queried the inconsistent quality of the company’s products. As a result, the system was developed to improve quality while reducing costs. In the mid-80s, the six sigma concept was fully launched and became popular. So,…

FMEA is an acronym for Failure Mode Effects Analysis. It is also known as failure modes, effects and criticality analysis (FMECA) or potential failure modes and effects analysis. FMEA in six sigma is useful in identifying possible failures and to come up with a plan to remedy it.  Six Sigma is a management tool used…

“Kaizen” is a Japanese word that means “change for better”. In other words, kaizen refers to activities that cause continuous improvements in business processes. Thus, a kaizen event is an improvement project that is carried out for a short period of time.  It is usually done with the aim to resolve problems within an organization’s…

Six Sigma (SS) professionals are placed in various levels based on their certification. They are also ranked based on the roles they play in SS implementation. These levels are known as Six Sigma Belts. The levels of Six Sigma belts hierarchy are: white belt, yellow belt, green belt, black belt and master black belt.  During…

Since the 1900s, healthcare organisations have debated and discussed the adoption of lean management principles as a means to achieve quality services to patients and remove excess waste. Nevertheless, lean in healthcare entails a bit of adaptation and flexibility for it to be effective. While lean principles are likely to improve the quality of healthcare,…