Lean Six Sigma Green Belt course begins Aug. 27

Methodist employees have the opportunity to register for a Lean Six Sigma Green Belt course offered by Nebraska Methodist College in collaboration with Operational Innovation.

Course information

Dates: Aug. 27-Oct. 17 on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 7 to 8 a.m. Final presentations will be shared Oct. 17.
Location: Classes will be virtual except for final presentations.
Cost: $500 per participant. A minimum of 10 people must sign up for the class to be held. In 2025, the tuition cost will increase.

Course participants will bring a problem to be worked on utilizing the tools introduced in this course. The problem should have one of the following outcomes:

• Cost reduction
• Cost avoidance
• Time savings
• Risk mitigation
• Patient experience improvement

Students can expect to learn the following:

• An introduction to Lean behaviors, principles and tools
• An introduction to Six Sigma process improvement methodology and tools
• The ability to apply Lean Six Sigma principles within a health care environment
• The ability to analyze data to make decisions regarding improvement efforts
• Skills to lead a process improvement initiative
• Knowledge of Daily Visual Management and huddles

Upon successful completion of the course and demonstrated understanding of the Lean Six Sigma methodology and tools, students will be certified as Lean Six Sigma Green Belts. Nebraska Methodist College will offer three credits toward the MBA in Healthcare program for completing the certification.

What participants are saying

“This class gave me the confidence and motivation to own processes and change them when needed. I also got to meet some great employees throughout the system. I now have resources and contacts in other departments and buildings. This class not only helped my department financially but also improved the satisfaction of the patients and employees I worked with. Little changes turn into big positive improvements.” – Deborah Willcox, RD, LMNT, LD, chief clinical dietitian at Methodist Fremont Health

What is Lean?

"Lean is a never-ending cycle of the elimination of waste, coupled with a commitment to total customer satisfaction, a total commitment to quality and a total commitment to employee involvement," according to the Project Management Institute. "The Lean methodology was first developed in the 1950s by Taiichi Ohno at Toyota. One of the system’s major innovations is that workers were seen as problem solvers who are trained and empowered to improve their processes and eliminate waste."  

What is Six Sigma?

According to the American Society for Quality: "Six Sigma is a method that provides organizations tools to improve the capability of their business processes. This increase in performance and decrease in process variation helps lead to defect reduction and improvement in profits, employee morale and quality of products or services. ... A Six Sigma expert uses qualitative and quantitative techniques or tools to drive process improvement."

More information and registration

If you're interested in this course, contact Julie Williams before July 15.

For more information about Operational Innovation, its available services or educational offerings, visit the OI intranet site (Intranet Home > Departments > Operational Innovation). You can also reach out to an OI team member directly either via phone or email.