Application of six sigma quality management strategy to assess total quality performance and design quality control rules in clinical laboratory / 中华检验医学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To apply sigma metrics to assess key indicators designed in the laboratory improvement plan to find problems and promote quality improvement.Methods Sigma metrics were calculated to reflect the performance of analytic phase including imprecision,inaccuracy and Turn around time(TAT).The quality control strategy was designed accordingly.Quality goal index(QGI)was calculated to find the cause of any error for the items exceeding 6 sigma.Quality of pre-,post-analytic and total analytic phase,such as quality of specimen,TAT,panic value notification and satisfaction of physicians and patients were measured in sigma metrics too.Results The average sigma metric of analytic phase was 4.44,while sigma metric for 8 of 27 test items were above 6?.The main cause of performance under 6o" was poor precision.The sigma metrics of quality of specimen,panic value notification,satisfaction of customer and emergent/routine TAT were 4.9,2.9,5.6,2.8,and 2.9 respectively.Conclusion Sigma metrics provide the objective marker for the evaluation of performance in each stage of analytic process.