Six Sigma Jobs in Healthcare

It’s called networking. Healthcare is full of “old boys networks” and certification requirements. This will change over time and they find themselves less and less able to handle the needs of customers. And they will look more and more to proven methodologies, like six sigma, to help — as well as bring in qualified people from the outside as they realize that their work is just a set of processes that can be defined, measured, analyzed, improved and controlled (just like any other process).
Having said all that (and back to my original post), if you have a network of influential people within healthcare they can help you get job(s). Try to attend as many conferences as you can. Network and share ideas with people in industry. Try to wow them. You will need to “get in” before you can prove yourself and that may require some action on your part to do so. Once you’re in and with proven experience, they won’t care so much that you aren’t originally from their industry.
Good luck!
Terry

You are very welcome. Happy holidays.
Terry

Hello,
I lead the Six Sigma deployment of a major health plan in the NYC area and I can tell you that out of the 15 Black Belts and 30 Green Belts I oversee, only 3 of these professionals are clinicians. My advice to you is to look at other organizations involved with healthcare such as laboratories, pharmaceutical companies and health plans. They won’t reject talent based on clinical credentials alone. Good luck.
Jim

Ronald:
Just to let you know you’re not alone.  I’ve been leading IT quality/performance improvement projects for years, but have wanted to get into healthcare.  In the last few year, I’ve been able to land two projects for the Laboratory Services department of a local, 140-bed hospital.   I too think building a network is the way to go, but I would encourage you to accelerate the process by marketing yourself directly to quality departments as a consultant.  I think it’s also helpful to formalize your experience on a web page that you can include links to showcase your work (e.g., http://rwillif.home.comcast.net/ss_examples.html) which is part of my larger web site: http://www.rwilliford.com.

All of the quality-improvement positions in healthcare I have come across require an RN or similarly extensive healthcare experience.  How does a certified Six Sigma Black Belt with many years of quality and process-improvement experience in various service industries, switch over to the healthcare industry without the required healthcare experience?
I picked this string up from a year ago and it struck a cord.   I originally came from the clinical side (RN), and for the last ten years pursued six sigma and a BA in business management because I saw such a quality gap not being fulfilled by clinical/professionals internally in hospitals.
My suggestion: give your dog and pony to hospital executives, not initially to the clinical execs, it will not matter what your credentials are..  There is a difference in the interpretation of quality and process at the clinical level and unfortunately hospital operations tend not to get involved in what they see as clinical issues.  When internal healthcare process improvement does not effectively improve hospital bottom line six sigma solutions will become more highly regarded and your credentials will be an asset. Hospital competition, changing marketplace etc. will assure of that.
Sad, though to hear out of 45 black/green belts are clinical.  As with any other corporation/business if six sigma is not embraced and understood in the workforce,  its all uphill. 
Good luck,,,,,
.