Between 2000 and 2011, there were 20,659,684 traumatic injury discharges from US hospitals alone.* Every minute counts in a traumatic injury. We look at several applications of Lean and Six Sigma in trauma care and in an article on using data for performance improvement in a trauma center. Then we’ll finish with a video of life in a trauma center.

*Source

 

Six Sigma Project to Improve Stroke Care Times: USA – West Virginia

 

In a short article titled “The ‘pit-crew’ model for improving door-to-needle times in endovascular stroke therapy: a Six-Sigma Project” authors Ansaar T Rai and others discuss a Six Sigma project to improve the times for endovascular stroke care in a regional level-1 trauma center.

The article includes:

  • An overview of the protocol along a timeline from patient arrival to arterial puncture
  • Lab to Puncture Setup Example
  • Graphic comparison of the treatment times ‘before’ and ‘after’ implementation of the quality-improvement process

You can read the article here.

 

Using Six Sigma DMAIC to Reduce Medication Errors in Major Trauma Center: India

 

In a paper titled “Application of Six Sigma DMAIC Methodology to Reduce Medication Errors in a Major Trauma Care Centre in India” authors Ankitha George and others discuss a study on the application of Six Sigma DMAIC methodology to reduce medication errors in a major trauma center.

The paper includes:

  • Baseline Data in the Define Phase
  • Measure Phase Errors
    • Prescribing
    • Transcribing
    • Dispensing
    • Administering
    • Monitoring
  • Comparison of Errors in Measure and Improve Phases
  • Error Outcome Category

You can read the paper here.

 

Using Lean Six Sigma Tools and Concepts to Improve Trauma Quality

 

In a short case study titled “From Trauma Quality Improvement Project to the Geriatric Trauma Institute: Developing an Innovative Care Model for the Coming Storm” authors Connie M DeLa’O and others briefly discuss the use of Lean Six Sigma tools and concepts to improve the geriatric care model for a trauma institute.

NOTE: To access the case study, please copy and paste the URL into your browser.

 

Using Data in Trauma Performance Improvement

 

In an article titled “Using data in trauma performance improvement: 5 things most teams do wrong” author Robert Fojut discusses what Dr. David Kashmer has to say about the five things trauma teams do wrong in using data and how that can be improved in trauma care.

  • Focusing on Isolated Cases
  • Relying on Hospital Data Bases
  • Making Data Collection Painful
  • Fumbling the Analysis
  • Monitoring the Wrong Control Data

You can read the article here.

 

Life in a Trauma Center

 

See Life in a Trauma Center in this video from Spartanburg Regional Healthcare System.

You can watch the video here.

 

 

 

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