An exploratory study into the use of Lean Six Sigma to reduce medication errors in the Norwegian public healthcare context

Antony, Jiju; Forthun, Shirin Charlotte; Trakulsunti, Yaifa; Farrington, Thomas; McFarlane, Julie; Brennan, Attracta; Dempsey, Mary

doi:10.1108/lhs-12-2018-0065

Cited by 36 publications

(44 citation statements)

References 45 publications

(82 reference statements)

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“…Trakulsunti and Antony (2018), implemented Lean and Six Sigma to minimize medication errors in four cases. Antony et al (2019) explored Lean and Six Sigma in the Norwegian public healthcare to decrease medication errors. Ahmed et al (2019) presented the Six Sigma applications within private hospitals in Malaysia.…”

Section: Lean Six Sigma Applications In Healthcarementioning

confidence: 99%

Quality Assurance for Operating Room Illumination through Lean Six Sigma

Öztürkoğlu

Kazançoğlu

Sağnak

et al. 2021

Int J Math, Eng, Manag Sci

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Since every mistake made in the healthcare industry can cause permanent harm or even death, some fundamental requirements should be considered when planning and designing operating rooms. Lighting is one of the most important ergonomic factors, especially for operating rooms. This paper investigates the integration of the lean approach and six sigma in measuring the efficiency of LED technology, which can also be regarded as a factor affecting the operating room efficiency. Measurement System Analysis (MSA) and Gage Control methods were applied to determine measurement variability in operating room illumination measurement process. Repeatability and reproducibility (%R&R) was found 12.89%. After calibration, %R&R value was found 8.21%, which implies that calibration helped reduce variability.

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Section: Lean Six Sigma Applications In Healthcarementioning

confidence: 99%

Quality Assurance for Operating Room Illumination through Lean Six Sigma

Öztürkoğlu

Kazançoğlu

Sağnak

et al. 2021

Int J Math, Eng, Manag Sci

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“…The results showed that order entry errors consistently improved by 90% after the deployment of a Six Sigma programme. A recent study has been conducted by Antony, Forthun et al (2019) exploring how Lean Six Sigma has been utilised in the Norwegian public healthcare context to reduce medication errors. This study found that while the implementation of LSS in the Norwegian public healthcare context is still in its infancy, its successful implementation not only reduced medication errors, but also improved staff working performance, patient safety, overall satisfaction and hospital profitability (Ching, 2013;Hintzen et al, 2009).…”

Section: The Application Of Lean Six Sigma In the Reduction Of Medication Errorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The team decided to focus on the medication selection process step. (Antony, Forthun et al, 2019). After the training session, LSS was employed with the researcher acting as consultant to help the participants solve the identified problems.…”

Section: Phase 2: Reflectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This resulted in a reduction of errors by 50 percent and therefore an overall decrease in the potential risk of harm ( van de Plas et al , 2017) . Furthermore, as most of the medications errors in Norwegian hospitals occur in administration this area should be prioritised for improvement (Antony, Forthun, et al, 2019) The severity of medication errors ranges from the trivial to the life-threatening (Walsh et al, 2013). Failures in the medication process can lead to decreased patient safety, decreased patient satisfaction with the reduced quality of care being provided and a distrust of the health care sector (Wittich et al, 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Other patient outcomes resulting from medication error can include psychological and physical suffering (Whittaker et al, 2018). Medication errors can occur at every stage of the medication process (Antony, Forthun, et al, 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Reducing medication errors using lean six sigma methodology in a Thai hospital: an action research study

Trakulsunti

Antony

Dempsey

et al. 2020

IJQRM

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PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to illustrate the use of Lean Six Sigma (LSS) and its associated tools to reduce dispensing errors in an inpatient pharmacy of a teaching hospital in Thailand.Design/methodology/approachThe action research methodology was used to illustrate the implementation of Lean Six Sigma through the collaboration between the researcher and participants. The project team followed the Lean Six Sigma Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control (DMAIC) methodology and applied its tools in various phases of the methodology.FindingsThe number of dispensing errors decreased from 6 to 2 incidents per 20,000 inpatient days per month between April 2018 and August 2019 representing a 66.66% reduction. The project has improved the dispensing process performance resulting in dispensing error reduction and improved patient safety. The communication channels between the hospital pharmacy and the pharmacy technicians have also been improved.Research limitations/implicationsThis study was conducted in an inpatient pharmacy of a teaching hospital in Thailand. Therefore, the findings from this study cannot be generalized beyond the specific setting. However, the findings are applicable in the case of similar contexts and/or situations.Originality/valueThis is the first study that employs a continuous improvement methodology for the purpose of improving the dispensing process and the quality of care in a hospital. This study contributes to an understanding of how the application of action research can save patients' lives, improve patient safety and increase work satisfaction in the pharmacy service.

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Success factors for lean six sigma projects in healthcare

et al. 2022

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Identifying critical success factors (CSFs) of continuous improvement projects is crucial for management control and operations management domains. Despite the availability of manufacturing-related literature, studies on CSFs in more dynamic and complex healthcare-related operations are scarce. This study, based at a large public tertiary healthcare organization, identifies CSFs in implementing Lean Six Sigma (LSS). 62 LSS projects completed by Green Belts in consultation with Black Belts were analyzed for project success by a review team of practitioners (Black Belters) and academics. Using a grounded theory approach, numerous success factors were initially identified. A series of brainstorming sessions and workshops helped to narrow down and revise all the CSFs present in each of the 62 LSS projects to eight CSFs. The success of the 62 completed projects was assessed against each of the eight CSFs on a five-point Likert scale. Success was measured against whether the project met its stated aim and achieved the Key Performance Indicators that had initially been identified. Finally, the correlations of each factor rating against project success were analyzed to validate the relationship between each success factor and project success. The findings confirm that all eight CSFs identified are significantly correlated to project success. This study contributes to the management control, operations management, and healthcare literature by identifying CSFs of continuous improvement projects and introducing a relatively unique, rigorous, and practically proven evaluation method applied via an industry and academic partnership. Specified CSFs and the method used to identify these will benefit managers of continuous improvement projects.

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An exploratory study into the use of Lean Six Sigma to reduce medication errors in the Norwegian public healthcare context

Cited by 36 publications

References 45 publications

Quality Assurance for Operating Room Illumination through Lean Six Sigma

Quality Assurance for Operating Room Illumination through Lean Six Sigma

Reducing medication errors using lean six sigma methodology in a Thai hospital: an action research study

Success factors for lean six sigma projects in healthcare

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