Could anyone tell me how six sigma methodology can be effectively used in travel and healthcare industry. The processes involved are not that complex but being service oriented how can one achieve maximum customer satisfaction?

Hello Namrata,

Six Sigma is about identifying and carrying out worthwhile improvement projects using tried and tested management techniques.

Example projects in Healthcare - the following types of projects are being carried out in health care.

• Reducing or eliminating invoicing errors
  
• Reducing patient checkout time.
  
• Reducing patient complaints
  
• Reducing complaint resolution time
  
• Control spending over time
  
• Reducing admitting delays
  
• Reducing medicine administration errors
  
• Reducing medication delays
  
• Improving bed utilization
  
• Increasing number of surgical operations per week.
  
• Improving patient and relative feedback
  

Examples of companies who have been implementing Six Sigma in Healthcare-

• Among users in the healthcare early pioneers include GE Healthcare
  
• Florida Hospital, Memorial Hermann Southwest Hospital in Houston, Texas, have reported excellent benefits with Six Sigma.
  
• Healthcare Excellence Institute in US has helped hospitals in bed management and faster processing utilizing lean management methods.
  
• Among Indian companies, Benchmark Six Sigma has had participation in training programs from leading healthcare organizations including Apollo Hospitals.
  

Namrata,

Application in tourism can also be similarly understood.

Example projects in tourism -

• Eliminating delay in pick-up service.
  
• Improving guest expectation capturing processes.
  
• Enhancing guest experience on key parameters.
  
• Reducing or eliminating defects/ errors in itinerary/tickets.
  
• Improving guest feedback in tourism services
  

If you elaborate your interest areas, I can elaborate more.

Regards,

Vishwadeep Khatri

Hello Vishwadeep,

Thanks for the input.Well my core interest areas are operations and overall improved customer feedback. I want to make sure that there are minimal errors human or technical so where do i start from? Please elaborate.

Dear Namrata,

The next step could be a Benchmark Six Sigma Green Belt training. Once you complete the training, you shall be a part of community with thousands of members (includes health services participants) that helps each other with good application of Six Sigma techniques on similar projects. 

Regards,

VK

Dear VK,

Thanks a lot..yes am thinking of undergoing the green belt training here in pune although am a little apprehensive about how much i'l be able to grasp as i dont have an IT or statistical background. You have trained a lot of people right, is it really difficult for some one who is into healthcare? I would appreciate if you could guide me.

Regards,

Namrata.

Dear Namrata,

You need not be apprehensive about your non IT background. Six sigma can be learned and applied in Discharge/billing/investigation/OPD scheduling in Health care. However you need a very strong monitoring and support system to implement it.

 

Best of Luck

Dr P H Mishra

Medical Superintenendent

Indian Spinal Injury Center

Goodmorning VK,

I have registered for the green-belt certification in Pune in April 09. My question is what happens after that? Do i have to get a black belt as well to work on projects if i want to pursue this as a career option. What kind of job prospects are availbale. Pls advice.

Namrata.

Hello Namrata,

You have two options:

• Go for Black Belt Training
  
• Carry out a Green belt project.
  

Six Sigma is a preferred additional qualification at Green Belt level. Black Belts are recruited for two types of roles.

• To work with Six Sigma as exclusive focus area.
  
• To carry out Black Belt projects as an additional responsibility in addition to the functional role.
  

Some feedbacks from participants from Hotel and Travel Sectors can be seen by clicking here

thnx dr mishra and mr khatri,

i am a doctor and need to  understand applications of six sigma in healthcare

In a similar situation as Dr. Eman Mann. I am a Consultant Pathologist , working in a diagnostic laboratory. Will like to know the schedule of training for the green belt and wheter it is possible to follow for working professionals.

Thanks.

Dear Dr. Emam and Uttara Joshi,

The Six Sigma schedule can be seen at www.benchmarksixsigma.com/cal.html

The benefits in Healthcare are too many to list in a small post. To give you an idea, I can provide you some examples.

1. Patients and Relatives Satisfaction - One area where hospitals have benefited a lot is in cutting down non value adding time (wait times) for patients. For a patient, the best hospital (assuming everything else is same) is one which does not make him/her wait too much.

Patient wait times range from less than 10 minutes (in Max Healthcare) to several hours (in AIIMS). Is the difference because of the fact that AIIMS serves masses and Max is for the rich? Partly, yes. But the other fact is that AIIMS has not made conscious efforts with Six Sigma to cut wait time for patients. When wait times are cut short - more patients can be treated, there shall be less chaos and confusion, Doctors can work with better peace of mind and less irate patients, timely re- visits shall be more (which so important to ensure completion of treatment many a times).

I am sure you may be aware about patients at AIIMS waiting for their turn for surgery without food for entire day and being told to come back next day.

If administrators could look at the processes at AIIMS and find ways of involving staff in improvement projects using Six Sigma, wonders can happen. The Good can be made Better.

2. Efficiency in Healthcare and Success - Whether we look at healthcare as a business or as a social objective, the success is highly dependent on efficiency being high, waste being minimised, faster turn around time for treatments and surgery (without adversely affecting quality), Doctor's professional needs being met well, patient treatment and care being the best feasible. Each of the above can be converted into a Six Sigma improvement project with tangible benefits to hospital.

Six Sigma provides management techniques and soft skills on "HOW TO" bring about these changes in a scientific way.

Last month I conducted a green belt training for a batch for about 25 participants in Hyderabad where 80% participants were from Healthcare and Pharma sector.

You can join the program with confidence that you shall realise significant practical learning for healthcare sector and shall derive very good value for money and time invested.

Dear Vk

 I took my green belt traning in chennai. I would like to have some guidelines in stating up my green belt project. If possible can you help me.

I work for a help desk set up where we support for our own people. My role is an quality analyst here and this quality team is a newly designed set up. Could you kindly suggest me with ideas where i could straight line this set up and bring in growth. I would require help like what sort of reports need to be generated. Right now i am doing a survey analysis, samplings, calibration,. Request you for more help appart from my green belt project.

 

Awaiting for your quick responce

Projects in Healthcare can be many. In addition to the list given above

Customer Satisfaction, Retention.

Projects for marketing the Hospital,conducting effective road shows,medical camps....

Radiology/Pathology  depts have some consumables which opened once needs to be utilised within few mins/hrs. Getting all patients at a time is the benfit.

Effectiveness of the Hospital/Diagnosti centers sales team

Service/Maintenance support/speed/cost...

Designing healthcare packages,treatement packages....

Where ever there are processes,people,equipments there are scope of improvement, and projects can be done.

Ajay

Hi VK,

You and other participants gave very good examples & idea that how we can implement six sigma techniques for health care industry. Could you also tell me that how could we implement the six sigma techniques in airline marketing?

Regards,

Ajeet Mishra

 

 

Dear Ajeet,

Airline Marketing is about understanding customer expectations/preferences and improving processes based on them. Six Sigma projects in Airlines Marketing relate primarily to the following areas.

• Developing and sustaining relationship building processes which are recognised by customers.
  
• Identifying defects and delays in internal processes. Re-designing or improving processes to eliminate or reduce them.
  
• Ensuring availability, completeness, relevance and accuracy in information and booking processes.
  
• Ensuring uptime of IT infrastructure and websites to result in reduced customer inconvenience.
  
• Maintaining high referral and repeat business and thereby increase in market share.
  
• Increasing impact and results of direct response advertising campaigns.
  
• Reducing delays, inconvenience and defects at various customer touch-points.
  
• Taking timely and appropriate feedbacks from customers and reacting to them with process improvements well in time.
  

This is to ensure that the airline image does not get spoiled due to poor processes.

Regards,

VK

Dear Vishwadeep

I couldn't retrieve the link yourself have mentioned in your post dated 19th Feb above.

Please help.

Thank you

Dr Monica Rajpal

Hi Ajeet ,

Airline Marketting is a vast topic , as it covers -

• Media Publicity
  
• Loyalty Programme
  
• introduction of seasonal fares
  
• agent / corporate events
  
• agent / corporate gifts
  

and many more apart from the above .

Considering the vast scope of marketing in an airline . Six sigma can be really helpful t fetch desired results or to improvise on the existing results or to optimize the expenditure to maintain the results drawn .

If you are interested we can further discuss in detail specifically on the role or aspect that you would like to take over .

Regards ,

Rahul Thadani .

Hello everyone

For Namrata, Dr Joshi, Dr Mann, John Paul, Monica Rajpal and all others, I found a very realistic link with feedbacks from Professionals in Health, hospitality and Travel & tourism industry. These people are veterans from names like ITC hotels, Apollo Hospitals, KML Royal Dutch Airline, Piramal Healthcare, Reliance health, Hyatt Regency and many more.

Click here

Or copy and paste the following link in your browser.

http://forum.benchmarksixsigma.com/topic/1105-hotel-travel-airlines/

For those seeking real feedback to make a decision or opinion, you can't afford to miss this.

Warm regards,

AbhishekM

Hi All

I am working a MNC company who are supplier for helthcare products.

I am SAP end user and working on product management.We are also using Excel for our data.

Could you please help whether Six sigma will be useful to improve the quality of product management

Regards

Hari

Mobile - 9952272212

Dear Hari,

Can you please explain what are the key elements in product management that you focus on? This will help in answering your question.

Best Regards,

VK

Dear Vk

This is David currently working in Health care industry. I had done my green belt certification in my college. Now would like to do black belt. Should I have to a Compulsory green belt project or can I do Black belt.

Will Black belt help me in getting good career in other corporate hospitals?

Dear David,

You can go ahead with a Black Belt even without doing a Green Belt project. There are quite a few of our participants who have done their first project as a Black Belt project.

Black Belt training greatly enhances your ability to apply Six Sigma and is considered an important criteria in large number of companies. It is also important not to have a big time gap between Green Belt and Black Belt as you tend to forget the concepts and it gets more difficult to relate with the subject later. (Unless you are applying them).

I am currently conducting a Black Belt training at Chennai at Hotel Radisson and 8 participants here have not carried out any project after their Green Belt.

To understand career impact, have a look at http://forum.benchmarksixsigma.com/page/media.html

Let me know if you have any further questions.

Best Regards,

VK