Using lean six sigma methodology to improve a mass immunizations process at the United States naval academy
Abstract
Lean Six Sigma (LSS) is a process improvement methodology developed in the manufacturing industry to increase process efficiency while maintaining product quality. The efficacy of LSS application to the health care setting has not been adequately studied. This article presents a quality improvement project at the U.S. Naval Academy that uses LSS to improve the mass immunizations process for Midshipmen during in-processing. The process was standardized to give all vaccinations at one station instead of giving a different vaccination at each station. After project implementation, the average immunizations lead time decreased by 79% and staffing decreased by 10%. The process was shown to be in control with a capability index of 1.18 and performance index of 1.10, resulting in a defect rate of 0.04%. This project demonstrates that the LSS methodology can be applied successfully to the health care setting to make sustainable process improvements if used correctly and completely.
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Results such as increased time for patient care, restructuring of the physical structure, visual management, reduction of lead time and improvement financial performance were achieved with 5S and VSM.
“results such as increased time for patient care, restructuring of the physical structure, visual management, reduction of lead time and improvement financial performance were also achieved [21,22,41,56,59].”
From Lean Healthcare Tools for Processes Evaluation: An Integrative Review. (2021) · cites this paper as [41]
Interventions included reorganization of the physical structure.
“Among these interventions, we can highlight reorganization of the physical structure [19,30,39,41,45]”
From Lean Healthcare Tools for Processes Evaluation: An Integrative Review. (2021) · cites this paper as [41]
Interventions included team training.
“team training [24,25,41,54,55]”
From Lean Healthcare Tools for Processes Evaluation: An Integrative Review. (2021) · cites this paper as [41]
Cites
Vest, J. R., & Gamm, L. D. (2009) · Implementation Science · doi:10.1186/1748-5908-4-35 · Cited by 216 · see citing works
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Lean Healthcare Tools for Processes Evaluation: An Integrative Review.
de Barros, L. B., Bassi, L. D. C., Caldas, L. P., Sarantopoulos, A., Zeferino, E. B. B., Minatogawa, V., & Gasparino, R. C. (2021) · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · doi:10.3390/ijerph18147389 · Cited by 90 · see citing works
“2% of the articles that also used the VSM and results such as increased time for patient care, restructuring of the physical structure, visual management, reduction of lead time and improvement financial performance were also achieved [21,22,41,56,59].”
BackgroundMethod
- Authors
- Ha, C., McCoy, D. A., Taylor, C. B., Kirk, K. D., Fry, R. S., & Modi, J. R.
- Affiliations
- Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (US)
- Naval Medical Center Portsmouth (US)
- Venue
- Military Medicine
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 2016-06
- Volume
- 181
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 582-588
- ISSN
- 0026-4075 (ISSN-L)
- 1930-613X
- OpenAlex
- W2410181121
- Cited by
- 21
- References
- 1
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 5 · 2018: 2 · 2017: 2
- FWCI
- 2.27
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Military Medicine (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Bureau of Medicine and Surgery
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › Health Information Management › Healthcare Quality and Management
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Management Information Systems › Quality and Supply Management
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › Emergency Medical Services › Healthcare Operations and Scheduling Optimization
- Keywords
- Lean Six Sigma, mass vaccination, process standardization, staffing reduction, process capability, military health services, United States Naval Academy, midshipmen
- MeSH terms
- Humans, Military Personnel, Time Factors, United States, Total Quality Management, Mass Vaccination, Military Facilities, Quality Improvement
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