What is it about?
A systematic management approach is applied to reduce wastes and improve performances of the knee replacement surgery process. Data on over 150 patients are collected and analyzed applying the DMAIC cycle (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve and Control) in accordance with the Lean Six Sigma principles. The DMAIC helps in identifying the problems to be solved, the causes of waste and the corrective actions that need to be implemented to improve the healthcare process. Results show that this approach can help in reducing the length of hospital stay of the patients undergoing knee replacement surgery, thereby reducing healthcare expenditure related to patients' management.
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Why is it important?
Public health expenditure is high and there is the urgent need to find new strategies to reduce wastes and increase the quality of the services provided to the patients. The DMAIC cycle (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve and Control) proved to be a useful tool to improve quality in healthcare and contribute to patients' satisfaction.
Perspectives
As a part of a bigger project, I believe that this work could pave the way for new applications of the Lean Six Sigma approach in the healthcare field, with a positive impact on waste and reduction and quality improvement.
Dr. Giovanni Improta
Universita degli Studi di Napoli Federico II
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Improving performances of the knee replacement surgery process by applying DMAIC principles, Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice, September 2017, Wiley,
DOI: 10.1111/jep.12810.
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