Shields Health Care Group Embraces Six Sigma Methodology
Chuck Spurr, chief information officer at Shields Health Care Group, needed an overhaul in its revenue cycle business. So when IT software alone couldn’t solve the issues, Shields, an MRI and ambulatory health chain serving the Boston area, looked to Six Sigma methodology. As a result of this implementation, Shields has increased patient collections 622 percent in the last five years and Six Sigma projects have saved the company nearly $6 million.
Hi, Do you know what type of six sigma tools where used to have such a dramatic increase in patient collections?
Thanks
Hello @disqus_qUpATRds71:disqus – Great question! Reading the source article in HealthcareFinance I saw they did a lot of what makes Six Sigma work well. They conducted a lot of upfront data collection instead of relying on anecdotal stories about customer complaints. That means they did some Voice of the Customer analysis. They also clarified their objectives and set goals so their improvement projects were targeted efforts. They did a lot to understand their current state but what I hear loud and clear is their efforts at communicating with stakeholders. A lot of improvement efforts fail due to lack of buy-in, but since they created cross-functional teams with folks from Customer Service, Reimbursements as well as IT, nobody felt targeted. They managed to solve problems across all those departments by increasing the sense of ownership. And lastly, they are continuously monitoring their processes which means they’ve got a got shot at maintaining the gains. Always good to hear about Lean Six Sigma applied to Healthcare since that impacts people’s lives in a positive way. Thanks again for your question!