Addressing variation in hospital quality: is Six Sigma the answer?

Quality of care has become a focal point in healthcare. Hospitals and health systems continue to produce care that varies in quality. This leads to customer dissatisfaction as well as inefficient processes and output. As a result, administrators face a challenge to improve the quality of care in their organizations. One way to address quality improvement is to use various quality management models. Six Sigma is an innovative program that uses data analysis to achieve defect-free processes and to decrease variation. The program can provide management with a viable solution to quality improvement. This article presents an analysis of existing quality management tools, encourages consideration of Six Sigma, and outlines the potential benefits of Six Sigma. Finally, the article discusses an organization's capacity to implement a Six Sigma program as well as the possibility for an organization to incorporate Six Sigma into its existing quality management program.