Measuring healthcare quality: the challenges.

PURPOSE: Current health care quality performance indicators appear to be inadequate to inform the public to make the right choices. The aim of this paper is to define a framework and an organizational setting in which valid and reliable healthcare information can be produced to inform the general public about healthcare quality. DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH: To improve health care quality information, the paper explores the analogy between financial accounting, which aims to produce valid and reliable information to support companies informing their shareholders and stakeholders, and healthcare aiming to inform future patients about healthcare quality. Based on this analogy, the authors suggest a measurement framework and an organizational setting to produce healthcare information. FINDINGS: The authors suggest a five-quality element framework to structure quality reporting. The authors also indicate the best way to report each type of quality, comparing performance indicators with certification/accreditation. Health gain is the most relevant quality indicator to inform the public, but this information is the most difficult to obtain. Finally, the organizational setting, comparable to financial accounting, required to provide valid, reliable and objective information on healthcare quality is described. PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS: Framework elements should be tested in quantitative studies or case studies, such as a performance indicator's relative value compared to accreditation/certification. There are, however, elements that can be implemented right away such as third party validation of healthcare information produced by healthcare institutions. ORIGINALITY/VALUE: Given the money spent on healthcare worldwide, valid and reliable healthcare quality information's value can never be overestimated. It can justify delivering "expensive healthcare, but also points the way to savings by stopping useless healthcare. Valid and reliable information puts the patient in the driver's seat and enables him or her to make the right decision when choosing their healthcare provider.

The usefulness of lean six sigma to the development of a clinical pathway for hip fractures.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to show the usefulness of lean six sigma (LSS) for the development of a multidisciplinary clinical pathway. METHODS: A single centre, both retrospective and prospective, non-randomized controlled study design was used to identify the variables of a prolonged length of stay (LOS) for hip fractures in the elderly and to measure the effect of the process improvements--with the aim of improving efficiency of care and reducing the LOS. RESULTS: The project identified several variables influencing LOS, and interventions were designed to improve the process of care. Significant results were achieved by reducing both the average LOS by 4.2 days (-31%) and the average duration of surgery by 57 minutes (-36%). The average LOS of patients discharged to a nursing home reduced by 4.4 days. CONCLUSION: The findings of this study show a successful application of LSS methodology within the development of a clinical pathway. Further research is needed to explore the effect of the use of LSS methodology at clinical outcome and quality of life.

Impact of 5 years of lean six sigma in a University Medical Center.

Lean Six Sigma (LSS) is an originally industry-based methodology for cost reduction and quality improvement. In more recent years, LSS was introduced in health care as well. This article describes the experiences of the University Medical Center Groningen, the second largest hospital in the Netherlands, with LSS. It was introduced in 2007 to create the financial possibility to develop innovations. In this article, we describe how LSS was introduced, and how it developed in the following years. We zoom in at the traumatology department, where all main processes have been analyzed and improved. An evaluation after 5 years shows that LSS helped indeed reducing cost and improving quality. Moreover, it aided the transition of the organization from purely problem oriented to more process oriented, which in turn is helpful in eliminating waste and finding solutions for difficult problems. A major benefit of the program is that own employees are trained to become project leaders for improvement. Several people from the primary process were thus stimulated and equipped to become role models for continuous improvement.

Generic project definitions for improvement of health care delivery: a case-based approach.

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this article is to create actionable knowledge, making the definition of process improvement projects in health care delivery more effective. METHODS: This study is a retrospective analysis of process improvement projects in hospitals, facilitating a case-based reasoning approach to project definition. Data sources were project documentation and hospital-performance statistics of 271 Lean Six Sigma health care projects from 2002 to 2009 of general, teaching, and academic hospitals in the Netherlands and Belgium. RESULTS: Objectives and operational definitions of improvement projects in the sample, analyzed and structured in a uniform format and terminology. Extraction of reusable elements of earlier project definitions, presented in the form of 9 templates called generic project definitions. These templates function as exemplars for future process improvement projects, making the selection, definition, and operationalization of similar projects more efficient. Each template includes an explicated rationale, an operationalization in the form of metrics, and a prototypical example. Thus, a process of incremental and sustained learning based on case-based reasoning is facilitated. CONCLUSIONS: The quality of project definitions is a crucial success factor in pursuits to improve health care delivery. We offer 9 tried and tested improvement themes related to patient safety, patient satisfaction, and business-economic performance of hospitals.

Quality in trauma care: improving the discharge procedure of patients by means of Lean Six Sigma.

BACKGROUND: The University Medical Center Groningen is a level I trauma center in the northern part of the Netherlands. Sixty-three percent of all the patients admitted at the Trauma Nursing Department (TND) are acute patients who are admitted directly after trauma. In 2006 and 2007, the University Medical Center Groningen was not always capable of admitting all trauma patients to the TND due to the relatively high-bed occupation. Therefore, the reduction of the average length of stay (LOS) formed the objective of the project described in this study. METHODS: We used the process-focused method of Lean Six Sigma to reduce hospital stay by improving the discharge procedure of patients in the care processes and eliminating waste and waiting time. We used the "Dutch Appropriateness Evaluation Protocol" to identify the possible causes of inappropriate hospital stay. The average LOS of trauma patients at the TND at the beginning of the project was 10.4 days. RESULTS: Thirty percent of the LOS was unnecessary. The main causes of the inappropriate hospital stay were delays in several areas. The implementation of the improvement plan reduced almost 50% of the inappropriate hospital stay, enabling the trauma center to admit almost all trauma patients to the TND. After the implementation of the improvements, the average LOS was 8.5 days. CONCLUSION: Our study shows that Lean Six Sigma is an effective method to reduce inappropriate hospital stay, thereby improving the quality and financial efficiency of trauma care.