5 million" (Heuvel, J., Does, R. & Verver, J. 2005. PP. 8). A second example, "Mount Carmel Health System, a three-hospital system in Columbus, Ohio reported a financial return of $3.1 million; while a third hospital, Charleston Area Medical Center, a 919-bed three-campus in West Virginia, achieved $841,000 in savings on supply chain management by using Six Sigma" (Heuvel, J., Does, R. & Verver, J. 2005. PP. 3). Cost saving in the health care sector is critical, as since 2001 "premiums have increased by 113%, placing increasing cost burdens on employers and workers" (Kaiser Edu.org. 2012. PP. 1). Six Sigma provides "a measurement- based strategy" (i Six Sigma.com. N.D. PP. 1) which care organizations can utilize across a variety of platforms. Specific Methodologies

Health care providers can look to Six Sigma as a process model which can be targeted to specific functional...

Methodologies are designed around refining existing processes or to develop new initiatives, but always incorporate: define, measure, analyze, improve, and control (i Six Sigma.com. N.D. PP. 1). In one case,
Thibodaux Regional Medical Center, a non-profit 149-bed hospital in Louisiana,

started implementing Six Sigma in 2001. Their projects were in the areas of accounts receivable days, medication management, patient safety, employee satisfaction, hospital acquired infections, and medical management. In May 2002, they reported a savings of more than U.S.$475,000 per year. (Heuvel, J., Does, R. & Verver, J. 2005. PP. 3)

Improvement in these specific areas generates total savings for organizations far beyond what could be achieved by straight cost cutting. Efficiency is developed as is productivity, leading to superior