Challenges of Six Sigma in Healthcare free essay sample

So why in this tough economic climate, would a company willingly spend â‚ ¬12,500 on a training programme and how, as many Third Party Auditors ask, â€Å"can you measure the effectiveness of that training? † In this article we look at how two companies took the decision to pursue Six Sigma Black Belt Training with SQT Training Ltd and how their initial expense, turned into a wise investment. The Black Belt programme involves 20 days training carried out over a 4 month period (1 week per month) with the delivery of a strategic company project, the key outcome.Our first company, an electronics manufacturer in Ireland, sent two delegates on the programme, each armed with a key problem to be investigated. The first problem or project concentrated on increasing the reliability of a non-core but nonetheless necessary, screen manufacturing process. At the start of the first project the screen reject rate from the screen manufacturing process was in excess of 50% ; high quality sc reens could be purchased from a trusted Japanese source but at a high cost and with a 9 to 12 week lead time. We will write a custom essay sample on Challenges of Six Sigma in Healthcare or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The strategy taken was to use the Japanese screens as a Benchmark and compare their characteristics with those from the local process. To be comparable, the variation in the local screens would have to be reduced from a standard deviation of 5. 8 to 3. 1 (roughly 46%). By forming a team of process experts and utilising a number of analytical tools, the input variables were narrowed down from an initial total of 132, to a short list of just 11. A Design of Experiment (DOE) was completed using the four most likely variables at various settings or levels.From this experiment a linear model was derived which showed the relative impact of each of the variables on the standard deviation. Using the new model the trainee Black Belt was able to determine the optimum process settings, which confirmed that the process standard deviation could be reduced by 40% resulting in a 20% unit cost reduction and an 80% lead time reduction. The resultant savings were in excess of â‚ ¬125,000. Fig 1. Printed patterns from the screen manufacturing process show the before and after surface area variation. | |Before: Wavy surface area (SD = 5. 8)| After: 40% improvement (SD = 3. 5)| The second project successfully reduced the defect level of specific components being shipped to one of their European customers from 611 ppm to approximately 45 ppm. This project proved more difficult as most of the defects were due to ‘special cause’ variation but using tools such as process mapping, failure mode and effects analysis and mistake proofing, ppm reduction was achieved and more importantly sustained, generating annual savings in excess of â‚ ¬114,000. . The absence or difficulty to obtain the baseline data on process performance is another major challenge while applying Six Sigma in health care sector. Hospitals, clinics, long-term care facilities and the like are characterized by thousands of processes, sub-routines and communications. In the typical environment, it is not unlikely that two to three or variations will exist in routine processes from shift to shift.While lots of data is captured, it is often not the right information, nor in a form that lends itself to the statistical quality analysis of Six Sigma. 3. There will be lots of data available in the health care sector, however, most of the time these data are not readily available for its analysis. 4. For health care industry, it is often a struggle to identify processes which can be measured in terms of defects or errors per million opportunities. 5. Another barrier to Six Sigma deployment in health care industry is the psychology of the workforce.Not to be forgotten among the barriers to Six Sigma Deployment in healthcare organizations is the psychology of the workforce. While the corporate business community struggles with deterioration of employee loyalty and commitment in the wake of accounting scandals and relentless downsizing, healthcare providers still attract employees who are passionate about their work. 6. Last but not the least, it is important to present recommendations using the business language rather than the statistical language.