The six-sigma ideology has existed since the 1990s, but the healthcare organizations started using it in the 2000s. Its core element is to design, improve, and monitor all the processes within a hospital setup (Carter, 2010). Hospitals can avoid, eliminate, or minimize wastages through this approach, which realizes satisfaction and financial stability.
In the past, only hospital administrations used the Six Sigma Program approach, but in my opinion, it should also be applied to the front line staff members. The main reason this program should be used on the front line staffs is that they are responsible for the hospital’s daily operations. Therefore, they must live and internalize the changes coming with Six Sigma Program (National Learning Consortium, 2013). Moreover, it is advisable to apply the Six Sigma Program to front line staffs because they are accustomed to health care processes than other parties within the hospital environment.
Significantly, this program is implemented on different but manageable levels. First, the first line staffs will be taught to refocus on providing the patient best outcomes and experience during their stay in the hospital (Lanham & Maxson-Cooper, 2003). In addition, they will be trained to avoid errors during their orations, which is quite a lengthy process. Further, this program is important because it educates front line staff to start working with a new mindset (American Hospital Association, 2012). Indeed, after the entire period, the front link staffs roles change drastically, especially regarding data entry procedures. An improvement process is adopted where issues are resolved at the micro and macro levels. On this platform, front line staffs are taught to examine the efficiency of the process. Consequently, they offer the patients the required satisfaction from the admission day until they are discharged from the health care facility.
The Six Sigma Program will efficiently change how front-line staff deliver their services within the health care setup. In fact, through this program, the errors will be reduced, and the patients will receive the most appropriate treatment from the hospital front line staffs.
References
American Hospital Association. (2012). Hospitals Demonstrate Commitment to Quality Improvement. Trendwatch, October 2012.
Carter, P. (2010). Six sigma. AAOHN Journal, 58(12), 508-510.
Lanham, B., & Maxson-Cooper, P. (2003). Is six sigma the answer for nursing to reduce medicalerrors and enhance patient safety?. Nursing Economics, 21(1), 39.
National Learning Consortium. (2013). Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) Strategies to
Optimize your Practice. Advancing America’s Health Care, (1-20). Retrieved from https://www.healthit.gov/sites/default/files/tools/nlc_continuousqualityimprovementprimer.pdf