Six Sigma in the Microbiology Laboratory

The introduction of the Six Sigma methodology for reducing defects and improving processes into the clinical laboratory has been met with both skepticism and enthusiasm on the part of microbiologists and other laboratorians. While Six Sigma can result in significant improvement in laboratory processes, it is not a methodology than can be adopted without a significant outlay of time, expense, and energy. In this article, the basic components of the Six Sigma methodology are described and applied to a microbiology preanalytic process.