Hospitals bring in efficiency experts

March 17, 2008

Efficiency experts have come to the Boston area in an effort to bring cutting-edge business school methodologies to physicians and hospitals, according to The Boston Globe.

Area hospitals are undergoing “process improvement,” a technique that examines repetitive tasks and exposes hidden faults.

Dr. Donald M. Berwick, chief executive of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement in Cambridge, told the Globe that more and more hospitals are taking part.

“Health care systems were never designed for efficiency and effectiveness the way modern manufacturing and service industries have been,” said Berwick. “As a result, there’s a tremendous amount of defects and waste in health care.”

Process improvement grew out of past approaches to quality engineering, including Six Sigma, which was traditionally used in business settings.