As a service which is delivered at cost to its customers, education requires that product and process be carefully defined. However, a lack of definition has resulted in a large number of institutions proving inferior services and resulting in poor student performance. This has led a large number of research scholars to look into methodologies which are able to increase passing rates and improve student performance.

In this article, we look at ways in which the Six Sigma methodology can be utilized by educational institutions to help improve student performance. Six Sigma makes use of a wide variety of tools and techniques in its implementation, with DMAIC (Define-Measure-Analyze-Improve-Control) being one of the most important. As a whole, we examine the methodology in detail under each of the steps of the DMAIC process:

Define

In this phase of Six Sigma implementation, the project is defined. In addition, critical customer needs are identified and then linked to the business requirements. The phase also offers a definition of the business procedures that need to be undertaken as well as the Six Sigma project charter.

For our case, the define phase of Six Sigma seeks to boost the pass rate of students within a school or other educational institution.

Measure

For this phase, critical to quality characteristics (CTQs) of the process are identified. At this stage, it is necessary that we establish the factors that contribute to poor performance by students so that solutions can be found. Studies have concluded that there are many factors that influence the success of students, including availability of academic services, relationship with faculty, financial aid and the curriculum, among others.

Once CTQs have been identified, a combination of interviews and surveys is used to quantify their effect on the student pass rate. In this phase, the process is analyzed to find out its present state and to help map out the desired future state.

Analyze

The analysis phase focuses on understanding the underlying causes of the problem. At this point, certain actions are created that will close the gap that stands between the current work state and the ideal required to achieve the desired goals. Each root cause is scrutinized, with the most critical areas being targeted for improvement.

For the present case, surveys are carried out among the school’s students to collect their opinions on the institution’s processes. This is the most effective way to find out the key critical factors within a learning institution that affect the academic success of the students.

Improve

Once analysis has been carried out, the processes can now be improved to remove any defects and variations. The gains made from the improvement phase of the Six Sigma implementation should be both immediate and corrective. Specific problems which have been isolated in the analysis are handled in the improve phase in order to achieve the desired results and goals.

In our education instance, an improvement state is achieved if, in the years following the adoption of Six Sigma methods, the number of students who pass their exams increases.

Control

The final phase, control, requires that the process conditions are well documented and continuously monitored through the use of statistical control techniques. After the desired Sigma level has been achieved in the cycle, the institution needs to ensure that there is continuous control.

Conclusion

Six Sigma has been widely adopted, even among many of the biggest corporate organizations thanks to its quick, positive and repeatable results. The same results that companies have achieved are also possible for educational institutions. In manufacturing, Six Sigma examines defects in engineered products. In the same way, poor performance of students can be viewed as a defect in the field of education.

Achievement of a higher passing rate and better performance of students has a positive impact on both the educational institution and the community at large.

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In 2000, a landmark report dubbed To Err is Human” was published by the Institute of Medicine that aimed to place issues of safety, errors and management of quality on the radar of all healthcare providers as well as accreditation agencies. Among its aims was the specification that healthcare systems should be made more efficient so that the resources available are put to use in offering value for money spent while reducing waste. Among the areas identified as wasteful in a large number of healthcare facilities was the billing process.

Application of lean and Six Sigma processes in healthcare quality management has rapidly grown over the past decade, especially in hospitals, clinics and clinical laboratories. In order to decrease the costs associated with healthcare, billing processes are investigated in order to identify areas where defects occur and determine where Six Sigma tools could be applied to improve defective processes.

Define

During the Define phase of a Six Sigma project, the implementation team is challenged to find a problem, define its scope and establish any measures that can be taken to bring about improvements. To gain a better understanding of the billing process, it is necessary to create a Supplier-Input-Process-Output-Customer (SIPOC) diagram.

The team also collects Voice of the Customer information related to the process in order to set up a baseline for the assessment of customer satisfaction with the process output, while identifying and prioritizing the main characteristics of quality, customer satisfaction and the project stakeholders.

In a healthcare billing scenario, the process customers are mainly providers those who work in medical information management and patient accounts departments, who generate a healthcare organization’s invoices.

Measure

Measurement of the billing process starts with plotting dollar amounts for all patient care procedures and tests that were conducted but were not billed over the course of a set period of several months. The result is a process control chart that gives a visual representation of average monthly billing for any test conducted.

This is used to find out how frequently individual procedures and lab tests were conducted but were not billed. This creates a baseline against which the Six Sigma team could assess changes after the interventions they propose.

In many cases, unbilled procedures can be linked directly to specific areas of the healthcare system. Six Sigma can focus attention on particular departments, clinics and labs to establish the physicians who conducted or ordered for the unbilled clinical procedures.

Analyze

The Six Sigma Analyze phase involves measuring how frequently clinical procedures are carried out but are not billed as a result of systemic defects. The team then goes ahead to generate a Cause-Effect Tree diagram to establish the reason for the defects.

The Cause-Effect Tree diagram helps the team to display and visualize the problems and their root causes plotted in contrasting colors. In addition, the Cause-Effect diagram allows them to look into possible proximal causes as well, which may also be targeted for intervention. Many cases of billing defects in healthcare systems boil down to poor documentation of necessity of applied clinical procedures.

Improve

After the causes of the unbilled medical procedures have been identified, possible solutions can be laid down within an Impact Effort Grid diagram. To improve documentation of the necessity of clinical procedures, one solution could be to implement an electronic ordering system for any request that would require physicians and lab techs to input the medical necessity or any procedure needed.

Cheat Sheet’ printouts are also common, as they help healthcare providers to know which procedures are necessary based on the diagnosis of the patient’s symptoms, while also educating the clinical staff involved in ordering of procedures and the request of requisitions.

The Impact Effort diagram allows the team to rank various solutions on the basis of their impact and efforts, letting them easily identify interventions that offer the greatest impact while requiring the least amount of effort.

Control

After putting interventions in place, there are multiple steps within the Control phase that help to monitor improvements, including:

• Documenting process changes: Keeping records of any requisitions and requested procedures by all parties involved including physicians, laboratory technicians, clinic managers and patient accounts.
• Support of process changes: After changes are made, reports are produced, which summarize the billing defects identified and how frequently they occur. The reports are shared with physicians and management.
• Recommending future plans: This is an overview of any other initiatives that can be taken to look at the issues identified in a broader sense.

Conclusion

Application of Six Sigma tools to improve the quality of processes within a healthcare setting is vital in identifying specific billing-related processes that require modification and improvement. Specific interventions can then be applied to the billing process in order to maintain improved performance.

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When in the Define Phase of the DMAIC process, be very specific in defining the issue. Use any data that is representative of the issue at hand. If production costs have risen, then put how much they have risen in how long a time (for example, production costs have risen 20% in the last four months). 

Included in the Define phase should also be the specific processes involved in manufacturing the product or service. Finally, list your specific goal for this project. The specificity of the goal will be obvious, but you need to include it and be as specific as possible for its success to be obtained.

The Specificity Continues

Being very specific in the Define phase will make the Measure phase even more helpful, because you can include any additional data you possibly hadn’t thought of, such as length of time taken for the processes or any changes made in the last four months. Any extra specificity given to data collection will increase success in the final result.

Now, because of the due diligence in really being specific in defining the issue and the extra specific data collected during the Measure phase, the Analyze phase becomes almost self-revealing. The Analyze phase will let you know if the issue is well-founded.  The other benefit of being so specific is that all the data obtained will be used as your “before,” or baseline data to compare to when you make the improvements.

During the Improve phase, assessing all the specific data you have collected and analyzed, possible solutions can be tested. After the best solution is chosen, a test pilot solution can be created and analyzed for its efficiency. Make sure the team has given consideration to ensure that there aren’t any unforeseen consequences or that the same issue won’t happen again.

The Control phase is very much monitor and data collecting using the newly implemented solution at scheduled intervals of time (i.e. weekly, monthly, or bimonthly) to prevent the issue from happening again.

For more information on our Six Sigma training courses or services, please visit 6sigma.com. 

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Well believe it or not, it can be obtained, just so long as you are aware of what is needed. The magic is “people training skills.” You see, teaching is much more than producing information overload. The information has to be given in a casual, simplistic manner and in a particular order so it paints a picture. The best way to start is by using Six Sigma methodologies of DMAIC.

Define-Measure-Analyze-Improve-Control

Breaking up what is required to achieve people teaching skills is easy using the DMAIC template. It will be different for everyone because your audience has different needs and requirements.

In order to obtain people training skills, you need to know your audience and be able to not only know your subject matter very well, but also cater to their sense of adventure. That is what inspires people to learn. The DMAIC template will keep you on track as to what is needed to engage your classroom and in what order of priority.

Using the DMAIC Methodology to Improve Teaching Techniques

Define: The goal is to inspire learning the subject matter so that the class will be more engaged in the aspect of learning.

Measure: The current state as a baseline and use it as a starting point for improvement. Exactly where is the class right now, look at their grades, class participation, etc.

Analyze: The root cause, identify with data-driven tools and validate as to why said issue is happening. Using tools like 5 whys, Fishbone diagram, and the Pareto chart to find out the root cause of lack of interest in the class.

Improve: Here you need to identify some creative solutions to get rid of the major root causes, so the problem will be fixed and prevent future similar issues. This is a cause for brainstorming creative solutions.

Control: Here you want to maintain the improvements and sustain the success of those new improvements.
Interested in learning how DMAIC can help you with your organization? For more information on our Six Sigma training courses or services, please visit 6sigma.com.

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