Chapter 14

1. Is a Six Sigma failure rate a reasonable goal for all health care organizations?
2. Should the health care industry be willing to accept higher error rates than the banking or airline industries?
3. Do you believe the majority of error rates are reported?

 

Is a Six Sigma failure rate a reasonable goal for all health care organizations?

Yes, it’s a reasonable goal that every healthcare institution should adopt. The benefits of six Sigma to healthcare institutions are known. For example, it is argued that through the six-sigma approach, healthcare institutions will be able to meet expected patient outcomes, dealing with financial issues by reducing costs along the service chain and giving a competitive edge for healthcare institutions (Antony et al., 2018). It is also argued that through the six sigma approach, healthcare institutions will explore more opportunities effectively. Therefore, it should be the goal of all healthcare institutions to re-establish the six-sigma approach in their institutions to improve healthcare delivery.

Should the health care industry be willing to accept higher error rates than the banking or airline industries?

Yes, the healthcare industry should be ready to accept increased rates of both medical and administrative errors. The six-sigma approach emphasizes improvements and, at the same time, streamlining healthcare to reduce defects and costs (Al Balushi et al., 2021). The approach achieves these expectations through its six-step approach; defining, measuring, analyzing, improving and controlling. It is through these steps that will keep healthcare on the lane and reduce errors (Huston, 2020). Therefore, with the failure of the six-sigma managerial approach, there will be more errors in Medicare than in the aviation and banking industries.

Do you believe the majority of error rates are reported?

Although the rates of errors in Medicare is rising, this is just a sample of reported error cases. Research indicates that only one in three errors were reported, which translates to 33.5% of reported cases and 66.5% of unreported cases (Gormley et al., 2018). The errors range from both human errors up to system errors. Although there are high rates of unreported error cases, there is no clarity on the motive behind these unreported errors. Some studies indicate fear of litigation of these errors is one major reason why medical professionals are not reporting the errors. In the last few decades, criminal cases of manslaughter have been filed against doctors, which has increased fear for reporting such errors (Santomauro, 2018). The six-sigma approach encourages learning from errors, which will improve healthcare if effectively implemented.

Outline

Discussion Questions

• Yes, it’s a reasonable goal that every healthcare institution should adopt.
• Yes, the healthcare industry should be ready to accept increased rates of both medical and administrative errors.
• Although the rates of errors in Medicare is rising, this is just a sample of reported error cases.
• The errors range from both human errors up to system errors.
• Although there are high rates of unreported error cases, there is no clarity on the motive behind these unreported errors.

Reference List: