Six Sigma for Physicians
In virtually all the sectors of the economy, the organizations that perform best win the highest rewards. In the near term future, MediSync believes this will happen in healthcare. Physicians and
physician groups who add more value -- value is quality as a function of cost -- will be better rewarded and will have a more influence in the pecking order in healthcare.
Can Quality Be Improved?
Sometimes healthcare professionals assume that dramatically improving quality and cost effectiveness is impossible. Many Americans believe the claim that we already have a quality healthcare
system. When quality deficits are noted or when resources are wasted, we hear all the usual rationale:
Our patients are sicker.
Healthcare is different--it is more complex.
You can't make improvements because the patients don't comply.
I'm a good doctor.
The patients demand that we do things unnecessarily.
I need to cover my malpractice risk.
The truth is that there are many other businesses and industries that are at least as complex as healthcare -- some more complex than healthcare -- and they HAVE a greater quality performance than
healthcare currently demonstrates while using resources more effectively.
Enter Six Sigma Methodology
MediSync searched the methods that have allowed many businesses to succeed in improving quality performance. Since the 1970s many, many sectors of the economy have seen dramatic improvements in
the quality of their goods and services produced. (Think back to the car you purchased 15 years ago as compared to the cars 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 Six Sigma. This is the quality system that General Electric, Nokia, Allied Signal, most of the pharmaceutical companies
and now some hospitals use.
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 -- billing, scheduling, accounting, etc. -- as well as in clinical care -- assuring that more patients are properly screened for chronic disease. Through this
discipline, we work to ensure that a higher percentage of patients with hypertension and other chronic disease are treated to evidence based standards of care.
Contact us for a discussion about how Six Sigma can make a huge difference in your practice.
Updated - May 05, 2006 (PM)
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