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. 2023 Mar 27;12:e39967. doi: 10.2196/39967

Table 4.

Six Sigma metrics for measuring defects.

Metric Formula Description
DPUa graphic file with name resprot_v12i1e39967_fig2.jpg Measures the average number of defects present in a unit (ie, the average number of defects in each client EHRb)
DPOc graphic file with name resprot_v12i1e39967_fig3.jpg Measures the number of defects as a proportion of the total number of data fields (ie, opportunities) present in each client EHR
DPMOd graphic file with name resprot_v12i1e39967_fig4.jpg Measures the number of DPO expressed per million
Sigma level Determined from conversion tables using calculated DPMO Measures the amount of variability in a process. Six Sigma quality performance is defined as 3.4 DPMO.

aDPU: defects per unit.

bEHR: electronic health record.

cDPO: defects per opportunity.

dDPMO: defects per million opportunities.