Implementation of Six Sigma Method To Improve Hospital Discharge Process: A Before-And- After Study With The Control Group In A Large Hospital

Abstract

\n Background: Delayed hospital discharge is a complex process that can impact hospital and service delivery capacity. The improvement of this process requires structural reforms and coordination with different wards, individuals, and the hospital.The present study aimed to use the Six Sigma method to reduce hospital discharge time. Methods: This pre-post study was conducted based on an experimental design from 2016 to 2020. A series of Six Sigma-driven interventions based on the Define-Measure-Analyze-Improve-Control (DMAIC) cycle was employed in a 1,000 bed tertiary care hospital to decrease discharge waiting time. Two wards in the hospital were allocated to the intervention and control groups. Three months of pre-intervention data were compared with 16 months of post-intervention in each group. The data were analyzed in Stata software (version 14.1). The level of statistical significance was set at 0.000.Results: There was a significant difference (P<0.000) between pre and post-intervention, as well as experimental and control groups. The discharge time points in the intervention and control groups before the intervention were reported as 438 and 411 min, respectively. After the intervention, the discharge time reached 246 min (3.20 h decrease) in the intervention group (P<0.000) and 475 min in the control group (P<0.574). The waiting time in stations 2, 3, and 4 reached zero after the intervention(P<0.000). The trend of discharge time after the intervention from October 2017 to March 2020 demonstrated that the changes were stable (184±25.56 min).Conclusions: As evidenced by the obtained results, the Six Sigma methodology can be an effective change management tool for the improvement of discharge time. The findings suggested that the use of electronic discharge and focusing on physician readiness for writing a discharge order would have the greatest impact.