Process oriented management of the hospital laboratory: Lean and Six sigma

In the hospital medical laboratory processes can be improved by use of Lean and Six sigma principles. A precondition for this approach is a process orientated viewpoint and an analysis of the laboratory-internal processes in connection with processes outside of the laboratory. Characteristics of a Lean Production are the understanding of customer requirements regarding product quality and product value, the avoidance of waste, the tuning of the individual process steps for a continuous work flow with small variability. In addition to Lean, Six sigma introduces statistical procedures for detecting, measuring and reducing errors, and a strictly structured procedure for continuous quality improvement. By several examples, it is shown that the use of Lean and Six sigma principles in the hospital laboratory results in a clear improvement of processes and cost savings simultaneously.