Performance Improvement

Through the application of Lean Six Sigma tools, and strategies for ongoing monitoring, 3M HCSC teams can assist with Guideline, Policy and Procedure Development, Remedial Program Development, and Patient and Process Flow Improvement.

Guidelines, Policies and Procedures Development

As a complement to Assessment and Gap Analysis, 3M HCSC will either develop new standards-based guidelines to form the foundation of policies and procedures, or recommend changes to the existing policies and procedures for the Operating Room and / or Sterile Processing Departments. 3M HCSC will consult extensively with designated hospital staff, and provide up to two draft submissions of policies and procedures before finalization.

When implemented, these guidelines or recommendations will reinforce quality assurance programs that result in safer surgical outcomes in Operating Rooms and the effective reprocessing of surgical instrumentation and sterilization monitoring in Sterile Processing Departments.

Remedial Program Development

This service is based upon the Assessment and subsequent Gap Analysis, as well as a review of recommended standards. It typically involves several weeks of information gathering, analyzing, and cross-functional team facilitation, to develop an implementation plan and propose success metrics to assist the hospital in addressing identified gaps.

It is comprised of:

• Identification of the priority sequence of various gaps and factors using available hospital data and / or data gathered through process observation over time using various Lean Six Sigma-based statistical techniques and quantitative models.
• Development of a comprehensive set of actions needed to implement and sustain various recommendations identified in the assessment phase.
• Coaching for integration of recommendations using 3M HCSC’s business and organizational management expertise.
• Development of quantitative models that help track the progress made after implementing the blue print.

Patient and Process Flow Improvement

In the Health Care setting 3M has successfully applied Lean Six Sigma principles and tools to execute projects in Patient Care and Process Flow Improvement in various areas.

Some Recent Lean Six Sigma Case Studies

Service Benefits

• Access to 3M’s Process Expertise: Correctly identifying and prioritizing the action sequence is often the major difference between implementation success and failure. 3M HCSC uses sophisticated statistical, data gathering, and modeling techniques to deliver an implementation blue print that significantly increase chances of success.
• Access to 3M's Management Expertise: It is always a big challenge to anchor change so that it is sustained in the long run. We use our management expertise to outline various strategies that can be used to entrench proposed changes by integrating them with other hospital management systems.
• Better success rate due to a very strong cross functional element: The 3M HCSC process involves extensive input gathering from various key stakeholders across the hospital organization to uncover the right implementation strategy needed for a sustainable positive change to set in.