The Ultimate Way to Overcome Technology Issues in Healthcare

A major technological shift that is facing not only healthcare, but many other industries today is the integration of electronic records and Big Data into everyday operations. While there are certainly benefits to using these technologies in an organization to make more informed decisions or discover hidden problems, this shift also comes with some potential risk.

In the healthcare industry, one major concern with maintaining electronic health records (EHR) is data integrity. With an abundance of patient health data that is constantly being generated, collected, and recorded with so many different devices, it is inevitable that some data will be incompatible with others. This can lead to confusion or misinterpretation of data simply because there is too much of it to sort through. Data from multiple differences sources may also be inaccurate, which can lead to misdiagnosis or false assumptions. (Source)

It is critical to evaluate the measurement systems and sources of the data that will ultimately be used to guide practitioners’ decisions. By establishing guidelines and processes for how data is collected and utilized, you can better manage the massive amounts of incoming information.

Lean Six Sigma can help with the integration of EHR in a healthcare system by deploying a systematic plan for success. Juran clients have utilized Design for Six Sigma to enable a smooth technology transition; one example was a large children’s hospital that used Juran’s Lean Design for Six Sigma DMADV process to redesign the scheduling and registration process of their electronic health record system to increase accuracy (to 95%), reduce duplicate records (>300), and increase patient satisfaction (to 92%); all within six months. (Click here to download more Juran healthcare case studies.)

For more information and to learn how Juran can help your organization improve its productivity and quality in healthcare, please get in touch with the team.