A tertiary care hospital adopts a Six Sigma approach to reduce medication errors in the pharmacy. The statistical performance level targeted by a mature Six Sigma process corresponds approximately to which defect rate?

• A 3.4 defects per hundred opportunities
• B 34 defects per thousand opportunities
• C 6 defects per million opportunities
• D 3.4 defects per million opportunities ✓

Explanation

Six Sigma aims at process variation so small that the specification limits lie six standard deviations from the mean on both sides, which with the conventional allowance of a 1.5 sigma long-term shift corresponds to 3.4 defective parts per million opportunities. Options B and A are arithmetic distortions of this figure and option C confuses the number six in the name with the defect rate. This 3.4 DPMO figure is the standard examined value.

Reference: Park's Textbook of Preventive and Social Medicine, 27th ed.

High-yield for: NEET PGINI-CETNExTFMGEUSMLEPLABMRCP

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