Date:  Saturday, January 31, 2009
Time: 10:00AM - 1:00PM (CT;-Central Time / Chicago)

Duration: 2.5 - 3 hours

Title:  Quality Assurance and 'Six Sigma' Strategies in Hair Transplantation
Director:  Carols J. Puig, DO
Faculty: Anne-Clair France, PhD

Description:  Quality assurance is a planned and systematic set of activities to ensure that the critical steps in a procedure are clearly identified and assessed and measures are taken to ensure that these steps meet the benchmarks to provide the patient with the optimal outcome.  Preventable errors can lead to complications and poor patient outcomes.  A strategy known as "Six Sigma," which reduces defects in a process to fewer than 3.4 per million, may be applicable to hair transplantation.  This course will describe the underlying causes of error and provide suggestions for important changes that may include adopting new educational programs, devising strategies to increase staff awareness, and encouraging physician commitment to quality improvement.

Learning Objectives: 

• Describe the difference between Quality Assurance (QA) and Six Sigma quality improvement programs
• Define and list a "critical to quality" step in hair transplantation
• Outline the steps in implementing a Six Sigma quality program 
• Define and contrast an internal and external customer
• Define and contrast a stable and unstable process
• Describe the role of variation in managing quality
• Define profound knowledge