The Quality Improvement Challenge. Richard J. Banchs

About the Authors

      Richard J. Banchs, MD is a board‐certified pediatric anesthesiologist. He is a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt and Change Management Experienced Practitioner. Since 2007 he has been combining his clinical responsibilities with improvement work. He has successfully used the improvement framework described in this book in the deployment of a broad variety of large‐ and small‐scale projects in the US and abroad. These improvement initiatives have included QI projects in operating rooms, emergency departments, outpatient clinics, and inpatient units both in small hospitals and large academic centers with the goals of improving quality, performance, and patient and provider’s satisfaction.

      Dr. Banchs compiles his improvement knowledge and years of clinical experience in the front lines into a road map for healthcare practitioners to achieve success in their quality improvement projects. By being on both sides of the equation, he can offer a global perspective on the nature of improvement work and the best strategies to overcome the barriers to improvement in healthcare. In this book, he shares his knowledge and expertise with any physician wishing to successfully improve the practice of medicine.

      Since 2013, Dr. Banchs has been teaching improvement methodology to staff, residents, and faculty at the University of Illinois Hospital in Chicago. He has served as the senior director of the Organizational Process Improvement (OPI) office, and is currently the Associate Head for Quality and Safety for the Department of Anesthesiology.

      Michael R. Pop, SSMBB, MBA is a Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt. He is an accomplished Quality Professional with 30 years of experience enhancing operations and leading teams through the implementation of effective solutions to permanently resolve quality issues. He is currently the director of Business Process Improvement for the Omron Automation Americas group. Prior to his current role, he was a senior consultant with Illinois Business Innovation Services spending the majority of his career providing Quality Systems Management, Lean, Six‐Sigma, Quality Management, and Quality Engineering support to various industries, including diversified manufacturers, education, healthcare, government and not‐for‐profits.

He has assisted multiple hospitals and clinics in implementing Lean Six Sigma Operations and has coached and mentored numerous healthcare leaders in the use of Statistical Process Control techniques to improve both process and healthcare services. As a quality consultant, Mr. Pop has assisted numerous organizations with becoming registered to ISO 9001, a set of international standards on quality management and quality assurance. He has trained over 200 Lean Six Sigma Black Belts and 500+ Green Belt students, helping them implement effective, efficient, and cost‐effective processes resulting in more than $20 million in savings for their organizations.

      Michael R. Pop has a Master of Business Administration and a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering Technology, both from Purdue University, and is a Certified Six Sigma Master Black Belt, Certified Quality Engineer, and a Certified Quality Auditor. He is currently a senior member of the American Society for Quality (ASQ).