Blog

Canadian Hospital Improvements Lead to Drop in Patient Mortality Rates

Wed, 16 Jan 2013 11:00:00 -0400

The Nanaimo Regional General Hospital (NRGH) of British Colombia, Canada has seen a decrease in patient deaths for 2011–2012, reported the Nanaimo Daily News.

Four Themes to Successfully Navigating the Supreme Court Decision

Thu, 28 Jun 2012 14:15:00 -0400

Today’s decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold the controversial Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act confirms the direction of healthcare reform that had already begun a few years ago. Many payers and providers, responding to the slowly emerging regulatory architecture of the law, have embarked on large scale transformational initiatives which will fundamentally change their business models forever. Even before the first draft of the health reform law was complete, a radical shift was already gaining momentum and leaders of healthcare organizations were facing mounting pressure to reinvent the healthcare system.

Guidon Hosts 2nd Annual 2012 High Performance Virtual Summit “Leaders Creating Real Change”

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 10:00:00 -0400

We’re fast approaching our second annual High Performance Virtual Summit. The event will focus on ways to cope with the new era of disruptive change. The virtual summit will be conducted on February 29, 2012 and will bring together healthcare leaders from across the country including Gundersen Lutheran, Center for Health Transformation and Stand Up To Cancer to share actionable insights on how healthcare organizations can implement progressive strategies and tactics to become more efficient and in many cases… survive.

The $88 Million Question

Thu, 08 Sep 2011 09:15:00 -0400

The news for Financial Services firms and Banks has been particularly grim over the last couple weeks. There has been a litany of pressures and consequences at both macro and micro levels, such as: The Federal Housing Finance Agency suit announced last Friday over the misrepresentation of private-labeled mortgage-backed securities to Fannie and Freddie, the anticipated formal delay announced last Thursday by the Federal Reserve Board on the release of Dodd-Frank rules, and the announcement from the Treasury Department two weeks ago that JP Morgan Chase agreed to settle for $88M over OFAC violations.

Regulatory Reform Pressures - Not for the Faint of Heart

Mon, 08 Aug 2011 08:40:00 -0400

The pressures of Dodd-Frank are not just directed at the banks but also regulators, insurers, and of course consumers. The US Court of Appeals ruled just two weeks ago* that the SEC acted "arbitrarily and capriciously" in failing to fully assess the financial impact of a new proxy rule. Clearly the challenge of demonstrating a new rule's impact on efficiency, competition, and capital formation is daunting for the regulators and will surely continue to stall the development of the 400 rules required by the new law.

Happy Birthday Dodd-Frank: A Year in Review

Fri, 22 Jul 2011 13:00:00 -0400

One year later, the Dodd-Frank law is still in labor pains - only 12%* of the 400 rules have been delivered with still no clarity on really how much risk it will eliminate for businesses and their customers. Ironically, the complexity in regulations and oversight themselves creates one of the more significant risks near term - risk to profitability, risk to transparency, and risk to compliance.

Enterprise Risk Management: Getting Beyond the Promise

Tue, 28 Jun 2011 15:00:00 -0400

The article is about putting enterprise management into practice while balancing enterprise risk management (ERM) with a vision. Join the Webinar to learn more about building mature and effective ERM enterprise risk management.

Roadmap for Building Mature and Effective Enterprise Risk Management

Wed, 22 Jun 2011 10:30:00 -0400

Enterprise risk management has become a core competency in the turbulent environment financial services today. Successful ERM programs require significant executive voice and organizational commitment at all levels. Watch the live webinar about principles and the roadmap for building mature and effective Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) that leads to competitive advantages.

Got ACOs? The Future of Health Care Systems

Mon, 13 Jun 2011 08:30:00 -0400

Healthcare reform has brought Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) into the spotlight again. This post highlights the positive and negative sides of ACOs and what they can bring to the healthcare industry.

Healthcare Process Improvement: Six Steps to Cope With Booming Aging Population

Thu, 12 May 2011 09:00:00 -0400

With more than 3 million baby boomers becoming Medicare eligible this year alone, healthcare providers are facing the quandary of providing superior patient care while remaining financially viable. An important part of your strategy needs to address how to achieve speed in patient care and claims processing while simultaneously improving quality.

Common Challenges of Six Sigma Public Sector Development

Wed, 20 Oct 2010 11:00:00 -0400

Workplaces in the private sector and the public sector have many similarities. After all, objectives need to be met and daily work needs to get accomplished. Through our experience with business process management we have identified five major differences between sectors.

Lean Six Sigma in Government is an Effective Strategy

Wed, 13 Oct 2010 09:50:00 -0400

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) has provided government agencies with great opportunities to spend money on their local projects. The President’s new initiatives also require accountability. With these new expectations in place, it would not be prudent to spend the funds wildly. However, as is often the case, the funds will only exist and be available for a limited time frame.

Evaluating the Effectiveness of a Continuous Improvement Team

Tue, 28 Sep 2010 08:45:00 -0400

Continuous Improvement is the ongoing effort to improve products, services or processes. The challenge is that in order to sustain improvement throughout your organization, it requires commitment from the people within your organization and the right tools and training for getting the job done.

Guidon Hosts Virtual Conference on Achieving Operational Excellence

Thu, 16 Sep 2010 11:00:00 -0400

We’re fast approaching our first annual Operational Excellence Virtual Conference. Our purpose behind the event is to take advantage of the latest technology innovations to help our clients and friends exchange ideas, learn from each other and to hear from leading thinkers on the challenges of leadership and thriving in the new economy...

Top Five Reasons CFOs are Playing a More Significant Role in Quality Improvement Programs

Wed, 15 Sep 2010 11:45:00 -0400

For the past few decades, chief financial officers (CFOs) were left to focus on “bean counting” and played little or no role in an organization’s quality improvement initiative. Increasingly, that role is changing and more organizations are having CFOs front and center in leading quality efforts. Here are the reasons why...

Lean Six Sigma Can Help Agencies Manage Stimulus Funds

Mon, 08 Jun 2009 12:00:00 -0400

In a recent interview on Fox Business channel, I had the opportunity to discus how effectively the stimulus funds are being deployed.

Begin the Ascent

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 12:00:00 -0400

Welcome to the Guidon blog where we will offer insights and learning from our work with public and private sector clients and how they are navigating the current economic crisis.

The ‘WIIFM’ Factor with Lean Six Sigma

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 12:19:00 -0400

One of the most frequent conversations that comes along from Lean Six Sigma and other Continuous Improvement practitioners is around their frustration with senior leaders and sponsors who “don’t get it” regarding Lean and Six Sigma or business process improvement. Most of the time the conversation is about a gap in sponsorship, buy in, leadership, etc. and the people I am speaking with are venting their frustrations.

“Undercover Boss” – Waste Management Uncovers Waste

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 15:50:00 -0400

Healthcare Embraces Lean Principles

Tue, 13 Jul 2010 11:54:00 -0400

A recent article from the NY Times Sunday business section...