Support our online development, and advance our onground research initiatives in free market economics, as we seek to showcase the brightest Next-Gen minds.
THE ME-P DISCLAIMER: Posts, comments and opinions do not necessarily represent iMBA, Inc., but become our property after submission. Copyright © 2006 to-date. iMBA, Inc allows colleges, universities, medical and financial professionals and related clinics, hospitals and non-profit healthcare organizations to distribute our proprietary essays, photos, videos, audios and other documents; etc. However, please review copyright and usage information for each individual asset before submission to us, and/or placement on your publication or web site. Attestation references, citations and/or back-links are required. All other assets are property of the individual copyright holder.
The Mount Carmel Health System
By Mark Matthews MD
A “Scrubbed” True Illustration
One of the earliest healthcare adopters of Six Sigma was the Mount Carmel Health System in Columbus, Ohio.
The organization was barely breaking even in the summer of 2021 when competition from surrounding providers made things worse. Employee layoffs added fuel to an already all-time low employee morale.
The CEO
The Chief Executive Officer was determined to stem the bleeding, break the cycle of poor financial performance and return the hospital system to profitability. He sought the potential benefits of Six Sigma and began a full deployment of its methodology. The plan was a bold move, as the organization ensured that no one would be terminated as a result of a Six Sigma project having eliminated his or her previous duties. These employees would be offered an alternative position in a different department. Moreover, top personnel were asked to leave their current positions to be trained and work full time as Six Sigma expert practitioners who would oversee project deployment while their positions were back filled.
Assessment
The Six Sigma deployment was the right decision. More than 50 projects were initiated with significant success. An example of an early Mount Carmel success story is the dramatic improvement in their Medicare Part C product reimbursements, previously written off as uncollectible accounts. These accounts were often denied by HCFA due to coding of those patients as “working aged.”
Since the treatment process status often changed in these patients, HCFA often rejected claims or lessened reimbursement amounts, effectively making coding a difficult and elusive problem. The employment of the Six Sigma process fixed the problem, resulting in a real gain of $857,000 to the organization. The spillover of this methodology to other coding parameters also has dramatically boosted revenue collection.
A Glimpse of Lean Medical Management Tools and Techniques
Conclusion
Your thoughts and comments on this ME-P are appreciated. Feel free to review our top-left column, and top-right sidebar materials, links, URLs and related websites, too. Then, subscribe to the ME-P. It is fast, free and secure.
Speaker: If you need a moderator or speaker for an upcoming event, Dr. David E. Marcinko; MBA – Publisher-in-Chief of the Medical Executive-Post – is available for seminar or speaking engagements. Contact: MarcinkoAdvisors@msn.com
Our Other Print Books and Related Information Sources:
Physician Financial Planning: http://www.jbpub.com/catalog/0763745790
Medical Risk Management: http://www.jbpub.com/catalog/9780763733421
Hospitals: http://www.crcpress.com/product/isbn/9781439879900
Physician Advisors: www.CertifiedMedicalPlanner.org
***
***
***
Share this:
Filed under: "Doctors Only", Book Reviews, Drugs and Pharma, Ethics, iMBA, Inc., Quality Initiatives, Recommended Books, Touring with Marcinko | Tagged: A Six Sigma Healthcare Pioneer, CMS, HCFA, hospital quality, Marcinko, mark matthews MD, Mount Carmel Health System | Leave a comment »
The Leading Business Education Network for Doctors, Financial Advisors and Health Industry Consultants 