The Use of Six Sigma in Healthcare

For decades the U.S. health care industry has been operating on its own way ignoring emerging factors such as competition, patient safety, skyrocketing health care cost, liability, malpractice insurance cost and use of DRG for Medicare and insurance payment. However, as these factors became more prevalent and competition within the industry intensified, many U.S. hospitals have been becoming increasingly aware of the critical needs of controlling the operating costs and meet and even exceeds the expectations of patient care quality. This paper presents a model of Six Sigma approach to health care quality management for hospitals in the U.S. and abroad.