Application of Lean Six Sigma for patients presenting with ST-elevation myocardial infarction: the Hamilton Health Sciences experience.

Most patients with symptomatic acute myocardial infarction (AMI), the leading cause of death in western industrialized nations, use the emergency department (ED) as their point of entry. Yet, one identified barrier to early recognition of patients with AMI is ED overcrowding. In this paper, the author presents a quality improvement model that applies Lean Six Sigma guidelines to the clinical setting.