Quality improvement in clinical biochemistry laboratory using six sigma metrics and quality goal index

Maheshwari A, Sadariya B, Javia HN, Sharma D

Pdf Page Numbers :- 101-107

Amitkumar Maheshwari^1,*, Bhavesh Sadariya², Hardikkumar N Javia³, and Dinesh Sharma¹

¹Department of Biochemistry, Gujarat Adani Institute of Medical Sciences and G K General Hospital, Bhuj, Kutch, Gujarat-370001, India

²Department of Biochemistry, Shantabaa Medical College, Amreli, Gujarat-365601, India

³Department of Biochemistry, C U Shah Medical College, Dudhrej Road, Surendranagar, Gujarat 363001, India

*Corresponding author: Dr. Amitkumar Maheshwari, Associate Professor, Department of Biochemistry, Gujarat Adani Institute of Medical Sciences and G K General Hospital, Bhuj, Kutch, Gujarat-370001, India. Mobile: +91 9925487191; Email: amit24687@gmail.com

Received 6 February 2021; Revised 11 March 2021; Accepted 20 March 2021; Published 30 March 2021

Citation: Maheshwari A, Sadariya B, Javia HN, Sharma D. Quality improvement in clinical biochemistry laboratory using six sigma metrics and quality goal index. J Med Sci Res. 2021; 9(2):101-107. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17727/JMSR.2021/9-16

Copyright: © 2021 Maheshwari A et al. Published by KIMS Foundation and Research Center. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

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Abstract

Introduction: One of the most popular quality management system tackle employed for process perfection is six sigma. When the process outcome is measurable, six sigma can be used to assess the quality.

Aim: Present study was conducted with the objective to apply six sigma matrices and quality goal index for the assessment of quality assurance in a clinical biochemistry laboratory.

Materials and methods: Present study is a retrospective study. Internal and external quality control data were analyzed retrospectively during July 2020 to December 2020. Descriptive statistics like laboratory mean ± standard deviation; bias and coefficient of variation (CV) were calculated for the parameters glucose, urea, creatinine, ALT (SGPT), AST (SGOT), cholesterol, triglyceride and HDL. Sigma value was calculated for both level I & level II of internal quality control (IQC).

Results: Satisfactory sigma values (≥3) were elicited for blood glucose, cholesterol, triglyceride, HDL, urea and creatinine, while ALT (SGPT) and AST (SGOT) performed poorly (<3) on the sigma scale. The quality goal index (QGI) ratio was found (> 1.2) for only 2 parameters SGPT and SGOT (with sigma value <3) for both levels 1 and 2, indicating inaccuracy.

Conclusion: Results of present study focuses on meticulous appraisal and execution of quality measures to improve sigma standards of all the analytical processes. Even though six sigma provides benefits over former approaches to quality assurance, it also opens newer challenges for laboratory practitioners. Therefore, sigma metric analysis provides a point of reference to design a protocol for IQC for the laboratory; address poor assess performance, and assess the existing laboratory process efficiency.

Keywords: six sigma; bias; internal quality control; quality goal index; coefficient of variation