Lean Six Sigma

About: Lean Six Sigma is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 1919 publications have been published within this topic receiving 29142 citations.

Identification of the Patient Requirements Using Lean Six Sigma and Data Mining

Abstract: Lean health care is one of new managing approaches putting the patient at the core of each change. Lean construction is based on visualization for understanding and prioritizing imporvments. By using only visualization techniques, so much important information could be missed. In order to prioritize and select improvements, it’s essential to integrate new analysis tools to achieve a good understanding of what the value is for the patient, analyze their requirements/expectations/needs and prioritize them in light of strong evidences and detailed measures. In that perspective, this paper intends to integrate lean thinking, data mining and six sigma improvement process methods with the goal to develop a lean health care driving methodology. The proposed methodology allows a better understanding of the patient perception of quality based on a Kano questionnaire. Questionnaire results are then analyzed using data mining tools to extract useful information. Finally, six sigma approach is followed to improve the quality of health care services and maximize the patient satisfaction. The main outcome of the study is that the first priority concerns the availability of physicians and health products, followed by the reduction of waiting time and minimization of errors related to prescriptions and diagnostics. The use of the six sigma approach on the medication circuit allows improving those three criteria.

A leadership maturity model for implementing Six Sigma in academic institutions – using case studies to build theory

Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to present a maturity model for academic leadership teams to benchmark their ability to deliver a culture of continuous improvement through the use of Lean Six Sigma. Teams will also be able to use this model to develop strategic action plans to improve the culture of continuous improvement within their institution. In addition, this paper explains the journey the authors have taken in creating this model by using a mixture of literature review, questionnaires and case studies to build the model and the use of test cases to refine and improve the model.,This paper uses a structured approach, focussing first on assessing the state of UK Lean Six Sigma (LSS) implementation and the, through the use of the case study method, the authors have designed a maturity model based on the classic capability maturity matrix approach. The final model has then been tested to refine the model into an improved version.,Key findings from interviewing the academic institutions that make up this paper highlight the current best practice in the UK and how far they still have to travel to become truly continuous improving organisations.,This paper is limited to only focussing on UK institutions in the design and development of the maturity model. Future research should benchmark UK institutions more formally with international universities from North America and the Far East.,This paper present a final maturity model which can be used by academic leadership teams to both map their maturity at delivering continuous improvement projects and to act as an action plan to move the culture towards a quality-based, continuously improving institution.,To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first such model to be produced focussing on the leadership and sustainability of deploying LSS in academic institutions.

Combating the military's escalating pharmacy costs: a lean Six Sigma approach

Abstract: : The pharmacy operations of three military, Medical Treatment Facilities (MTF) were observed, to determine possible process improvements and cost saving mechanisms that may be achieved through Lean Six Sigma methodologies. After mapping the processes of each facility (one large, one medium, and one small) each was modeled and validated in order to forecast potential savings, increases in efficiency, and/or waste reduction while either maintaining or improving customer satisfaction (i.e., processing times). The research proved that Lean Six Sigma methodologies can be implemented within pharmacy operations, often at little or zero cost, while realizing significant savings and increased customer satisfaction.