Applying Six Sigma to Hospital Peer Review

It's time to raise the discussion on how to apply six sigma quality principles to the medical peer review process in hospitals. While many "experts" are touting the value of apply lean six sigma methodologies to health care (see article below), nowhere is there more opportunity for improvement in hospital performance improvement and patient safety than in peer review. While some hospital groups have a repeatable peer review process that consistently and objectively measures practitioner performance, we talk to medical staff and peer review committee members every day who indicate the need for a holistic overhaul at their hospitals.

To achieve this, hospital leaders should start by studying six sigma principles and initiating a dialogue on how to apply them to their peer review committees. The application of these principles have positively impacted many industries, and which could be easily applied to peer review in order to raise performance, accountability and transparency. --AGR

Lean & Six Sigma: Fixing Healthcare a Process at a Time
By Carolyn Pexton

iSixSigma

With so many different issues facing the U.S. healthcare system the task of “fixing” it can seem insurmountable. Every healthcare executive knows the litany of challenges: rising costs, inadequate insurance coverage, capacity constraints, patient safety concerns, workforce shortages, increased competition, optimization of new technologies, etc. Some industry experts want a complete overhaul of the nation's healthcare system, while others tout information technology as a cure or consumer-directed healthcare as the inevitable wave of the future. Then again, for some people the problems appear so big that genuine, pragmatic and sustainable solutions are hard to envision.http://healthcare.isixsigma.com/library/content/c071121b.asp