Applying Lean Six Sigma to Healthcare
MediSync searched the methods that have allowed many businesses to succeed in improving quality performance and efficiency. Since the 1970s many sectors of the economy have seen dramatic improvements in the quality of their goods and services produced. (Think back to the car or computer you purchased 15 years ago as compared to the cars or computers you can buy today.)
Many successful organizations have found that the fewer errors they make, the more they profit. We have found that too. High clinical quality can drive higher reimbursement. Fewer operational errors mean less overhead.
After reviewing many of the methods making improvements, MediSync selected Lean Six Sigma, which is used by leading companies in most of the economic sectors, including healthcare. Increasingly, it is the method used by leading health delivery systems like Park Nicolett, Virginia Mason and many others.
Lean Six Sigma is a statistically based method of studying what can go wrong, organizing operations, measuring constant improvement, and eliminating the sources of error. We have found that it is useful in practice operations - such as billing, scheduling and accounting - as well as in clinical care - for example: assuring that more patients are properly screened for chronic disease.
Through this discipline, we work to ensure a higher percentage of patients with hypertension and other chronic disease are treated to evidence-based standards of care.