Healthcare Articles

Embracing Lean in Microbiology: Labor shortages and the need for faster TAT can be eased by automation and Lean methodologies – July 1, 2010
By Christian Borjesson, Director, Microbiology, bioMérieux Inc, Marcy l'Etoile, France
If necessity is the mother of invention, the recent surge in technological and process innovations transforming microbiology laboratories reflects the urgent need of hospital microbiologists who face dramatic increases in their workloads. Guidon CEO, Ron Wince talks about providing Lean lab assessments for customers that would help them optimize their value-added services. These assessments result in a roadmap for the microbiology laboratory with recommendations for process adjustments and re-orientation of existing equipment, staffing times and automation of various portions of the microbiology lab continuum.

Pennsylvania Governor: U.S. Will Fall Back Into Recession If Congress Doesn’t Approve Medicaid Assistance – June 9, 2010
By Jon Ward and Alexandra Cahill, The Daily Caller
Democratic governors on Wednesday ramped up the pressure on Congress to pass a $24 billion extension of aid to states for spending on health-care assistance for the poor and elderly, with one saying that the country will slip back into recession if the money is not handed out. Guidon CEO, Ron Wince says it’s going to be a train wreck if the money doesn’t come through and many states may raise taxes instead of firing workers.

Including Information Technology Costs In MLR Could Affect IT Spending, Quality – June 9, 2010
By Sara Hansard, BNA Healthcare
A major issue regulators will have to grapple with in determining how to account for health insurers’ costs is what kind of health information technology should be considered medical costs. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA, Pub. L. No. 111-148) requires that starting in 2011 insurers of large group plans spend at least 85 percent of the premiums they collect on expenses that are defined as clinical services and activities that improve health care quality. Insurers of small group plans and individuals must spend at least 80 percent of premiums on those expenses. Guidon CEO, Ron Wince says regulators are likely to prohibit IT costs associated with managing operations from being included in the medical loss ratio.

Making Sense of Health Care Reform – May 21, 2010
By Angela Gonzales, Phoenix Business Journal
Arizona employers are grappling with mind-numbing details of the new health care reform law, wondering how they will be impacted and what they need to do now to prepare. Guidon CEO, Ron Wince says new processes are going to be created.

Survival Guide to Health-System Reform – April 19, 2010
By Sharon Fitzgerald, Orlando Medical News
The massive health-system reform legislation dubbed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is law, enacting the most sweeping changes in America’s health system since Medicare. Experts say now is the time providers should take a deep, cleansing breath, then jump into action with short-term strategies that could pay off down the road. Guidon CEO, Ron Wince, talks about the reform after the reform – where the big stuff is going to hit everybody. We’ve got to figure out the ‘how’ piece.

Comprehensive Healthcare Reform Arrives: Healthcare Analysts Look at What It Means – April, 2010
By Steve Raphael, Nightingale’s Healthcare News
As the dust settles on the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 that President Barack Obama signed into law on March 23, the winners and losers are beginning to emerge. Guidon CEO, Ron Wince, says that all-in-all, some legislation had to be passed, but It would have been better to have smaller, better pieces of legislation passed over time as he sees premiums going up.

Reaction To Newly Signed National Health-Care Law – March 29, 2010
By Eric Reinhardt, Business Journal Central New York
Some local stakeholders in the health-insurance industry, and at least one national advocate for small businesses, aren’t satisfied with the newly signed national health-care law. Guidon CEO, Ron Wince, talks about how premiums will continue rising, despite the passage of the health-care law and how the cost of healthcare is not even attacked at all in this.

What Health-Care Reform Means to Indiana – March 23, 2010
By John Russell, Daniel Lee, and Shari Rudavsky, The Indianapolis Star (Indystar.com)
It’s been called a landmark restructuring of the nation’s health-care landscape. And the legislation, which runs thousands of pages, is reverberating across Indiana. The changes will affect patients, employers, doctors, hospitals, drug companies, medical-device makers and many others. Guidon CEO, Ron Wince, talks about one of the first effects of the reform and how there may be confusion as customers flood insurer phone lines asking what the changes mean for them.

Improving Lab Efficiency: It all boils down to process, process, process – February 25, 2010
By Ron Wince, President/CEO, Guidon Performance Solutions
"It's not a good time. We'll get to that later." How many times have you heard or said something similar when discussing critical laboratory process improvements? "Later" often turns into never. You may be too overloaded to deploy new initiatives, but waiting only exacerbates the challenges. Processing delays and errors due to overcapacity have surely led to preventable patient deaths--a tragic yet completely unnecessary situation. It takes just days to effectively install efficiency processes utilizing LeanSigma lab tactics and less than a week to positively impact patient outcomes while reducing laboratory stress.

Hospitals Borrowing Efficiency-Improvement Techniques from Industry  – February 11, 2010
By Debra Wood, RN, contributor, AMA Healthcare
Hospitals aiming to work smarter and more efficiently are turning to quality assessment and improvement techniques pioneered in industry, deploying Six Sigma and Lean tools to change cultures and to improve results. CGH Medical Center contracted with Guidon Performance Solutions to help it function more efficiently. Guidon CEO, Ron Wince, encourages staff to view the healthcare experience from a different viewpoint, that of the patient, to map each step, to identify delays and redundancies and then eliminate them.

The Mechanics of Meaningful Use  – February 10, 2010
By David Yaeger, Freelance Writer, For The Record
On December 30, 2009, Health and Human Services (HHS) took another step toward defining the meaningful use of EMR systems. Following months of discussion, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services issued a notice of proposed rulemaking, known as the meaningful use rule, that outlines the criteria for healthcare organizations to qualify for meaningful use incentive payments. Now in the public comment period, the rule could become official as early as this spring. Guidon CEO, Ron Wince, talks about how the amount of time medical providers will have to begin achieving meaningful use as a major hurdle for those who wish to qualify.

The State Of Health Reform  – January 27, 2010
By Forbes.com
Guidon CEO, Ron Wince, talks about how President Obama should rally around the least controversial, core parts of the health reform bill and force a vote. Those would include spending on electronic health records, new rules to keep insurance companies from discriminating against those with pre-existing conditions, and initiatives to root out waste and fraud.

The Road to EHR Implementation is Paved with Incentives and Challenges  – January 2010
By Managed Care Outlook
On February 17, 2009, the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act was enacted as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) to promote the adoption and meaningful use of health information technology (IT). Guidon CEO Ron Wince talks about how there are both positive and negative financial incentives to be compliant with the HITECH Act.

Well-Known Business Efficiency Model Aids Life Safety: Lean Six Sigma tag-teams with traditional healthcare fire protection efforts  – January 2010
By Scott Wallask, Healthcare Life Safety Compliance
Those of you who have heard of the Lean Six Sigma approach to business operations efficiency may be surprised to know there are related applications to fire safety in healthcare facilities. Guidon CEO Ron Wince talks about how he has used Lean Six Sigma to improve physical safety, fire protection, and emergency planning in hospitals.

No Need for Crystal Ball to Foresee Challenges; Recession, reform among drivers of patient access complexity – December 2009
By Laura L. Merisalo, Healthcare Registration
Ask health care industry experts what patient access professionals can expect in 2010, and the responses may vary but they also will invariably link to service and, in turn, its relationship to nearly all other aspects of patient access responsibilities and processes. Guidon CEO Ron Wince talks about continued focus on shifting costs to patients by employer and how it is among the factors that mandate ongoing change and improvement in front-end processes.

H1N1 Spreads Across the United States: Tips on Handling the Spike in Demand for Testing – December 2009
By Clinical Laboratory News
As of early November all indications were that the 2009 H1N1 influenza outbreak was still gaining steam and labs were continuing to do yeoman’s work in handling a huge spike in testing demand. To explore how labs might find some relief from the testing onslaught in a climate of tight economic circumstances and limited staff resources, CLN spoke recently with efficiency expert & CEO Ron Wince.

Toyota + Motorola = Hospital Savings: Lean Six Sigma an Answer In Difficult Times – October 2009
By Lisa Jaffe Hubbell, Nightingale’s Healthcare News
An increasing number of healthcare organizations are taking ideas from big manufacturing companies and making them their own utilizing and merging Lean and Six Sigma. Guidon CEO Ron Wince discusses that using the two together is a way to identify errors, improve efficiency, and roll out changes quickly.

Health Care Reform Is Coming: Will You be Ready? – October 2009
By Laura L. Merisalo, Healthcare Registration
Guidon CEO Ron Wince discusses preparing for health care reform and how it will require a cultural change in how health care delivery organizations function.

Six Sigma in Health Care: We're Leaving Money On the Table – October 1, 2009
By Dirk Dusharme, Quality Digest
In this interview with Guidon CEO Ron Wince we explore the growth of the lean, Six Sigma, and similar programs in the health care industry, and how well those programs have been implemented.

Efficiency Paying Off at Moffitt, St. Joe's – September 25, 2009
By Margie Manning, Tampa Bay Business Journal
Guidon CEO Ron Wince discusses hospitals using Lean and Six Sigma to improve efficiency.

Guaranteed Issue Is Key Component, But May Force Health Plans To Boost Rates – August 31, 2009
By Steve Davis, Health Plan Week
Guidon CEO Ron Wince discusses the impact of the proposed healthcare reform on health plans.

Ron Wince on Healthcare Reform – July 14, 2009
Online interview with Ron Wince, President & CEO of Guidon Performance Solutions, OurBlook.com
Ron Wince discusses problems and opportunities with healthcare reform and states that the focus needs to be individual centric, locally managed and competition-based.

Will ERs in the Deep South Be Ready for Second Wave of Swine Flu? – July 1, 2009
By Lynne Jeter, Medical News, Inc.
Guidon CEO Ron Wince talks about how hospitals can get better prepared for crisis situations with using Lean and Six Sigma tools which can help provide solutions to dealing with increasing volume and declining resources.

Hospitals Advised To Play It Safe When It Comes To H1N1 – July 2009
By Steve Lewis, Healthcare Benchmarks and Quality Improvement
Guidon CEO Ron Wince gives his expert opinion on how Quality Managers can make a difference in being better prepared, noting that problems may exist in areas that have not been focused on such as microbiology labs.

Downturn in Economy May Bring More Challenges for Risk Managers – March 2009
By Greg Freeman, Healthcare Risk Management
Guidon CEO Ron Wince explains why healthcare organizations can’t afford to cut risk management and patient care during economic struggles.

You Can Save Healthcare Money By Getting Lean – November 10, 2008
By Dylan Skriloff, Hudson Valley Business Journal
Throughout the healthcare system, Lean practices can save organizations time and money – and improve patient care – according to Guidon CEO Ron Wince.

Rising Healthcare Costs Hit Orlando – September 24, 2008
By Anika Myers Palm, Orlando Sentinel
Healthier employees could help curb the tide of increased healthcare costs for employers, says Guidon CEO Ron Wince.

Management Systems Keep Hospitals From Meeting Goals – May 1, 2008
By Robert Hirst and Denise Weimer of Guidon, Managed Healthcare Executive
Applying Lean and Six Sigma can eliminate wasted time and effort in treating heart attack patients.

Quick Check-In for the Sick – January 25, 2008
By Angela Stewart, The Star-Ledger
Newark Beth Israel Medical Center cuts patient check-in time by one hour on average and provides ER nurses the information they need to quickly begin patient care.

Safety Prone – July 16, 2007
By John Pulley, Government Health IT
To reduce medical errors, health organizations are seeking ideas from the airline and auto industries, which engineer safety from the ground up.

Firm Has Hospital Waiting Times In Its Crosshairs – June 15, 2007
By Angela Gonzales, The Business Journal of Phoenix
Guidon CEO Ron Wince explains how Lean thinking can transform healthcare delivery into a more efficient, safe and cost-effective experience.

The New Newt Thing – January 22, 2007
By Nina Easton, Fortune Magazine
Guidon explains its ideas on a healthcare conference's theme – how to extend the reach of Lean Sigma in the healthcare industry – to Newt Gingrich.

National Health Care Leaders Head to Tempe for Summit – September 26, 2006
The Business Journal of Phoenix
Guidon Performance Solutions hosts a summit for national healthcare leaders.

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