Administrators, there are Six Sigma specialists already at your hospital

Posted by Clark Venable on 10/14/2007

Six sigma. Lean six sigma. High reliability organizations. Hospital administrators seem to drool over this stuff. Many are willing to go out and spend lots of money on six sigma consultants to come in to their hospitals and integrate the buzz words.

What many hospital administrators don't realize (or conveniently forget) is that anesthesiology is a six sigma specialty within medicine. That is, there are fewer than six mishaps per million events. That safety attitude is ingrained in us from the first day or residency. We live and breath six sigma and evidence-based medicine.

So, hospital administrator, the next time an endocrinologist comes to you with a plan to give insulin to non-critically ill, non-diabetic patients with a blood glucose over 120 right before their general anesthetic and the entire group of anesthesiologist says 'I don't think that's a very good idea,' pause, take a deep breath, and listen to what they have to say.

Six sigma is a way of thinking. Six sigma trumps three sigma any day of the week.

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