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

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 ( 1.2) for only 2 parameters SGPT and SGOT (with sigma value