Question

2. Compare and contrast PDCA, Lean, and Six Sigma approaches to quality improvement. Provide a real-world example in a health care organization where you believe one would be preferable to another. What is your rationale for your choice?

Answer 1

PDCA : Plan Do Check Act

During World war 2nd there was a high need of low cost and high quality materials, thus led to a sudden increased focus on quality improvement methods, to remove defects from assembly line manufacturing.

To improve quality 14 points listed to guide companies to improve quality by Edward Deming a statistics professor at New York State University. He also build on Joseph Shewhart’s also build on Joseph Shewhart’s Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) cycle.He stressed on the role of top management to improve quality. PDCA includes ,

• Determining the nature of problem, identifying the possible changes and the methodology to implement change
• Implementing the change
• Assessing the impact of change by establishing functional or causal relationships between changes in processes of behaviors and capabilities, and outcomes
• Before starting over again, making necessary modifications.
• This method is widely used by the institute of health care improvement

Lean: Lean aims at bringing efficiency gor rapid cycle improvement.by using minimum required. It requires to identify customer needs and improve processes by eliminating actions that is not beneficial to customers.its principle is eliminating waste processes improves performance of the business.

• Lean works by applying:
• continuous improvement of process by eliminating waste
• 5S, or the workplace organization methodology that guides how to efficiently organizing workspace and effeciently
• Methods of inventory Just in Time (JIT)
• Zero defect methodology
• Concept introduced by Toyota in 1950's
• Physicians, nurses, technicians, and managers are increasing the effectiveness of patient care and decreasing costs in pathology laboratories, pharmacies and blood banks by applying the same principles used in the Toyota Production System.

Six sigma: It is the most popular quality management tool.  It is pioneered by Motorola.By applying a statistical based problem solving methodology that identifies variances, it aims to reducing defects or variance in processes. It also eliminate such variances.

It s methodology involves DMAIC. DMAIC is define the problem, measure, analyze, implement and control.

I choose PDCA as the best approach in health care facilities. As an example a survey of health can be conducted very effectively using PDCA idea.

Benefits of PDCA are:

• Reduces Error
• Prevents Shocks and Surprises
• Identifies Problems
• Modifies Existing Processes
• Continuous Testing
• Ensures Cash Flows