The purpose of this book is to introduce the concepts embedded in quality function deployment (QFD) and Lean-Six Sigma to help Public Health professionals implement quality improvement within their agencies. The tools and techniques of QFD and Lean-Six Sigma are designed to augment a robust PDCA or PDSA problem-solving process, not replace it.

The tools and techniques of QFD and Lean-Six Sigma can help problem-solving teams by providing insight into customer needs and wants, design and development of customer-centric processes, and mapping value streams. Both QFD and Lean-Six Sigma focus on doing the most with the resources we have. Each of these megatools supports efforts to expand our community support programs and to increase the effectiveness of internal capacities. This dual external/internal focus offers an excellent partnership of quality improvement tools for Public Health.

In this book the authors have modified the QFD process and Lean-Six Sigma methodology so they are aligned with the needs and differences in Public Health design and delivery of products and services. Where these modifications are present, they are explained so readers will understand the change from what might be seen in an industrial or healthcare application of the same concepts.