Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common form of arthritis, affecting around 500 million people
worldwide, or around 7% of the global population. In the United States, over 32 million have OA.
(2023)* In 2019, 18 million people worldwide were living with rheumatoid arthritis. ** We’ll look at the application of Lean and Six Sigma in osteo and rheumatoid arthritis and finish with a video on
understanding osteoarthritis.
NOTE: Osteoarthritis is due to wear and tear while Rheumatoid Arthritis is due to an autoimmune
disease.
Application of DMAIC Principles to Knee Replacement Surgery
In a paper titled “Improving performances of the knee replacement surgery process by applying DMAIC principles” authors Giovanni Improta and others apply the DMAIC cycle to improve quality and reduce costs related to the prosthetic knee replacement surgery by decreasing patients’ length of hospital stay (LOS).
The paper includes:
- Value Stream Map of the Care Process for Patient Undergoing Prosthetic Knee Replacement
- Differences in Length of Stay (LOS) Before and After Implementation of the Improvement
Actions - Comparison Between the Two Fundamental Studies of the Project
Copy and paste the following link into your browser to read the paper.
Lean Six Sigma Applied to Rheumatoid Arthritis
In a paper titled “Coupled Effect of Electronic Medical Record Modifications and Lean Six Sigma
Methodology on Rheumatoid Arthritis Disease Activity Measurement and Treat-to- Target Outcomes”
authors Puneet Bajaj and others apply Lean Six Sigma coupled with Electronic Medical Record
modifications to evaluate improvement in disease activity documentation and patient outcomes.
The paper includes:
- Fishbone Diagram for No Clinical Disease Activity Index (CDAI) Score
- Characteristics of the Population of Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis in the Study
Copy and paste the following link into your browser to read the paper.
Rheumatoid Arthritis: From Guidelines to Practice
In a paper titled “Rheumatoid Arthritis: Closing the Gap between Guidelines and Practice” author
Salahuddin Kazi discusses the recent advances in the management of rheumatoid arthritis as well as the utilization of implementation science principles to achieve high quality care with improved outcomes. Lean and Six Sigma are among the improvement strategies mentioned.
You can read the paper here.
Improving Patient Outcomes in Total Joint Replacement
In a thesis titled “Improving Patient Outcomes with Post-Op Education for Nurses Caring for Patients
Undergoing Total Joint Replacement” author Amanda Collier discusses the required education
associated with the specific total joint care guidelines and assesses the effectiveness of the educational
sessions.
“The implementation of this project followed the DMAIC theoretical framework that is part of the Six
Sigma initiative for quality improvement”
The most common reasons for total knee arthroplasty are:• Osteoarthritis
• Rheumatoid arthritis
• Traumatic osteoarthritis and traumatic lower extremity injuries.
Copy and paste the following link into your browser to read the thesis.
[https://digitalcommons.jsu.edu/etds_nursing/46”]
Understanding Osteoarthritis
This video from Zero to Finals offers a simplified explanation of osteoarthritis.
You can watch the video here.
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