Inventory quality control in clinical engineering: A Lean Six Sigma approach

Medical equipment inventory control is important for any hospital. Its measurement and management directly affects healthcare providers´ decisions about budgets, administration and maintenance. In this paper the authors present a case study, conducted at Albert Einstein Hospital which uses both Six Sigma and LEAN methodology/tools to improve the inventory control over critical medical equipments. The Six Sigma philosophy aims to diminish the errors committed, avoiding rework while LEAN aims at reducing all form of losses and wastes in the manufacturing process. Significant results were attained, increasing the selected indicator (complete forms) from 62,6% to 99,4%, which benefit both the hospital´s management as well as the patient´s level of care.