novaces

May 19, 2011

Bahadir Inozu of NOVACES Named Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year 2011 Gulf Coast Area Award Finalist

The nomination recognizes the rapid success of the company and its ongoing commitment to its roots in the Gulf Coast.

New Orleans, LA (PRWEB) May 19, 2011 – NOVACES, a leading management consulting firm for performance management, continuous performance improvement (CPI), and project management services to both the public and private sectors, announced today that the company’s ceo and co-founder Bahadir Inozu , Ph.D., is an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year® 2011 Gulf Coast Area Award finalist. Inozu leads the company with the support of co-founders and partners Ivan Radovic and Brian MacClaren. According to Ernst & Young LLP, the awards program recognizes entrepreneurs who demonstrate excellence and extraordinary success in such areas as innovation, financial performance and personal commitment to their businesses and communities. Inozu was selected as a finalist from nearly 50 nominations by a panel of independent judges. Award winners will be announced at a special gala event on Wednesday, June 22 at the Houston Intercontinental Hotel.

“To be selected a finalist in this prestigious awards program is really a testament to our employees’ capacity for understanding our customers’ businesses,” said Inozu. “NOVACES, with the active participation of all its employees in the strategic priority-setting process, continues to build internal capabilities and develop new products that enable the firm to refine its offerings that clients need to achieve ever higher levels of performance,” he noted.

NOVACES, owing to its Louisiana headquarters, strives to be an active member in the community although the firm’s reach is international in scope. After Hurricane Katrina, the company put together a team of retired military leaders and senior executives to build a training program that provided important management tools to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) through its Louisiana Transitional Recovery Organization (LATRO), which was responsible for the enormous recovery effort along the Gulf Coast.

Shortly after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, NOVACES began helping British Petroleum’s (BP) Incident Command Center to better coordinate and track cleanup performance by providing project plans, program framework, and new methods to track and accelerate their response. This is enabling the Gulf Coast economic and environmental recovery to proceed much more quickly and efficiently.

The Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year Program celebrates its 25th anniversary this year. The program has expanded to recognize business leaders in more than 140 cities and more than 50 countries throughout the world.

Regional award winners are eligible for consideration for the Entrepreneur Of The Year National Award. Award winners in several national categories, as well as the Entrepreneur Of The Year overall National Award winner, will be announced at the annual awards gala in Palm Springs, California, on November 12, 2011. The awards are the culminating event of the Ernst & Young Strategic Growth Forum®, the nation’s most prestigious gathering of high-growth, market-leading companies, which will be held November 9–13, 2011.

About NOVACES
NOVACES, LLC is a management consulting firm that provides performance management, continuous process improvement (CPI), and project management services to both public and private sector organizations. Headquartered in New Orleans, LA, NOVACES utilizes today’s most effective tools and methodologies to help its clients build capabilities to achieve breakthrough operational and financial results. More information can be found at novaces.com or by calling 1-877-577-6888.

About Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year®

Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year® is the world’s most prestigious business award for entrepreneurs. The unique award makes a difference through the way it encourages entrepreneurial activity among those with potential, and recognizes the contribution of people who inspire others with their vision, leadership and achievement. As the first and only truly global award of its kind, Entrepreneur Of The Year celebrates those who are building and leading successful, growing and dynamic businesses, recognizing them through regional, national and global awards programs in more than 140 cities in more than 50 countries.

About the Ernst & Young
Ernst & Young is a global leader in assurance, tax, transaction and advisory services. Worldwide, our 141,000 people are united by our shared values and an unwavering commitment to quality. We make a difference by helping our people, our clients and our wider communities achieve their potential.

Ernst & Young refers to the global organization of member firms of Ernst & Young Global Limited, each of which is a separate legal entity. Ernst & Young LLP is a client-serving member firm of Ernst & Young Global Limited operating in the US. For more information about our organization, please visit www.ey.com.

Dec 9, 2010

NOVACES Promotes Lean Six Sigma for Healthcare Webinar Series at the 22nd Annual National Forum on Quality Improvement in Healthcare

The Lean Six Sigma for healthcare consulting firm is educating healthcare organizations about best practices in process improvement through its webinar series promotion at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement’s 22nd Annual National Forum on Quality Improvement in Healthcare.

Orlando, FL (Vocus/PRWEB) December 09, 2010 — NOVACES, a management consulting firm that provides Lean Six Sigma and performance improvement services to healthcare organizations, announced today that it is promoting a series of webinars that provide insights into how to implement process improvement in healthcare at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement’s (IHI) 22nd Annual National Forum on Quality Improvement in Health Care.



This year’s forum, with over 5,000 attendees, had a theme of “Taking Care” and was held at the World Marriott Convention Center in Orlando, Florida. Maureen Bisognano, IHI’s new CEO who took over this year after Don Berwick finished his twenty-year tenure since the organization’s founding, introduced the IHI strategy called Triple Aim during her keynote.



The IHI Triple Aim, according to Ms. Bisognano, emphasizes that new designs must be developed to simultaneously to improve the health of the population, enhance the patient care experience, and reduce or control the per capita cost of care.



The webinar series promoted by NOVACES at the IHI Forum supports the Triple Aim and teaches participants about the tools and methods that facilitate the design of new clinical and administrative processes that healthcare organizations can implement to help meet the challenges of providing higher quality care at lower costs to an aging U.S. population.



The first of the performance improvement webinars offered by NOVACES is “Physician Perspectives on Performance Improvement” and aims at helping healthcare organizations understand how physicians perceive process improvement and how to improve their level of engagement in projects that require their support and their knowledge to create positive and lasting changes to processes. It is scheduled for December 13 at 1 PM EST and registration information can be found at novaces.com/webinars.



The next webinar is offered on December 14 at 1 PM EST is “Taking Lean to the Next Level: A Hospital Case Study.” This session will focus on how a hospital engaged in a rapid planning process for the deployment of process improvement tools and methods throughout the facility. It includes examples of the initial improvement projects that produced both clinical and financial benefits. Registration information can also be found at novaces.com/webinars.



The final webinar in the series on December 16 at 1 PM EST is “Medication Reconciliation: One Big Pill To Swallow” and is a case study presentation that provides insights on how a hospital was able to reduce medication reconciliation errors from 60% to 13%, using Lean Six Sigma process improvement tools. Registration information can be found at novaces.com/webinars.



The IHI 22nd Annual National Forum on Quality Improvement in Healthcare wrapped up on December 8. As the event concluded, Vickie Kamataris, who is a nurse and healthcare process improvement expert for NOVACES commented, ”IHI represents the leading edge of innovation in healthcare. The keynote speakers discussed the core issues confronting healthcare and the keys to creating positive change. It’s encouraging and energizing to be able to tie what we do every day for NOVACES clients to each of the three elements of the IHI Triple Aim.”



About NOVACES

NOVACES is a leading provider of healthcare performance improvement, Lean Six Sigma, and quality management consulting and training services to hospitals, health systems, large physician networks, nursing homes and rehabilitation centers. Employing its SystemCPI roadmap, the company provides a framework to deploy and manage a performance improvement program that enables clients to rapidly achieve return on investment and self-sufficiency. For more information, visit http://www.novaces.com or call 1-877-577-6888.



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Oct 12, 2010

Medication Reconciliation Webinar Presents Case Study Highlighting Effective Solutions for this Complex Healthcare Challenge

The complimentary webinar called “Medication Reconciliation: One Big Pill to Swallow” is being offered for a second time due to overwhelming interest on November 10 at 1 pm EST. NOVACES will present how Lean Six Sigma was used to implement several creative solutions that have improved healthcare quality and increased revenue simultaneously.

New Orleans, LA (Vocus) October 11, 2010 — In response to heightened interest on the subject of medication reconciliation, NOVACES announces that it will offer a second airing of its webinar “Medication Reconciliation: One Big Pill to Swallow.” The company, a management consulting firm that provides process improvement and Lean Six Sigma services to the healthcare industry, will present this webinar based on a case study from a project completed at a New York hospital system.



The results from the project being presented during the webinar on November 10 at 1 pm EST draw upon the company’s extensive experience with the difficult decisions facing hospitals to manage complex processes, reduce costs and improve patient care quality. During the first improvement pilot of this case study, there was not a single medication reconciliation error. Now the improvements have been fully implemented and Vickie Kamataris, a registered nurse and master change facilitator for NOVACES, will walk attendees through how the team did it and describe how one innovative solution enabled the team to generate an estimated $1.3 million in new revenue to pay for all the changes.



The solutions developed during this project were the result of the application of Lean Six Sigma for healthcare. Lean (a rapid and simple approach to drive non-value added activities, or waste, out of processes) and Six Sigma (a rigorous, data-driven problem-solving method) have demonstrated remarkable successes in hospitals that have employed these proven methodologies, especially when combined to be used as one integrated process improvement program.



“The implementation of new process improvement methods in hospitals does not have to be complicated,” says Brian MacClaren, Chief Operating Officer for NOVACES. “Focus a team on an important project and provide them with the right process improvement tools. The key to solving tough healthcare challenges, such as medication reconciliation, is to be innovative while keeping solutions as simple as possible.”



The webinar will be held Wednesday, November 10, 2010 beginning at 1:00 pm EST and is free to registered attendees. Go to www.novaces.com/med-rec-webinar to register or for more information about Lean Six Sigma for healthcare visit www.novaces.com/healthcare.



About NOVACES

NOVACES, LLC is a leading provider of healthcare performance improvement, Lean Six Sigma, and quality management consulting and training services to hospitals, health systems, large physician networks, nursing homes and rehabilitation centers. Employing its SystemCPI roadmap, the company provides a framework to deploy and manage a performance improvement program that enables clients to rapidly achieve return on investment and self-sufficiency. For more information, visit www.novaces.com or call 1-877-577-6888.



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Jul 29, 2010

NovaMark Solutions and NOVACES Form Strategic Alliance Supporting Performance Improvement Services in Hospitals and Health Systems

NovaMark Solutions, the exclusive North American reseller of Covalent Software’s Corporate Performance and Quality Management software, today announced the finalization of a strategic alliance with NOVACES, a leading provider of healthcare performance improvement and Lean Six Sigma consulting services.

New Orleans, LA (PRWEB) July 29, 2010 — NovaMark Solutions, the exclusive North American reseller of Covalent Software in the healthcare market, and NOVACES, a leading provider of healthcare performance improvement consulting and training, today announced a strategic partnership that will enable clients to exploit the best of both company’s core strengths.



NOVACES will be employing Covalent’s corporate performance and quality management software as a core component of its delivery methodology, allowing clients to monitor the impact of performance improvement and Lean Six Sigma efforts on key metrics within one system that can be accessed across the organization.



“This partnership brings together the respective strengths of both companies – Novaces’ extensive experience in Lean Six Sigma and healthcare performance improvement and Covalent’s proven corporate performance and quality management software,” said Mike Scalcucci, co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of NovaMark Solutions. “We feel this better positions both companies to fill an important and growing need in the marketplace.”



This collaboration comes at an important time, as the American Hospital Association (AHA) has just released in July its new strategy, “Hospitals in Pursuit of Excellence,” at its 2010 AHA Annual Leadership Forum. By employing Covalent within the NOVACES portfolio of healthcare performance improvement services, hospitals can implement AHA’s guidance to leverage data and measurement across the organization, set targets, and track performance in one cohesive system.



“Lean healthcare is a critical piece of the future for hospitals and other healthcare organizations to implement the changes that must be made for the U.S. to be a world leader in terms of quality and affordability,” said Charles Mount, director of healthcare and former Chief Nursing Officer at NOVACES. “The next evolution of our healthcare management system must also include capabilities to set goals for performance and then monitor them in one simple system that can be accessed by management throughout the organization. The changes that are necessary require real teamwork, and I’m very excited about how Covalent software will help achieve new levels of collaboration in a healthcare enterprise.”



NOVACES has begun introducing the software to its healthcare clients and initial results indicate that hospitals and health systems are able to consolidate key metrics for quality, safety, satisfaction and facility operations into the enterprise-system. As a result, leaders who are responsible for performance improvement will be able to use the information as a tool to guide decision-making and work towards achieving and sustaining goals.



About the Companies:

NovaMark Solutions, LLC, was founded by Roger Travis and Mike Scalcucci, who collectively bring over 60 years of experience in the information technology industry and performance management solutions. NovaMark specializes in developing and executing highly customized sales and marketing strategies for technology companies looking to expand their business in North America. By leveraging this expertise NovaMark is able to not only provide clients with market leading strategies, but remain involved to lead the successful execution of those strategies.



NOVACES, LLC is a leading provider of healthcare performance improvement, Lean Six Sigma, and quality management consulting and training services to hospitals, health systems, large physician networks, nursing homes and rehabilitation centers. Employing its SystemCPI roadmap, the company provides a framework to deploy and manage a performance improvement program that enables clients to rapidly achieve return on investment and self-sufficiency. For more information, visit www.novaces.com or call 1-877-577-6888.



Covalent Software is the UK market leader for Performance Management software in the public sector and healthcare. Founded in 2003, Covalent now has almost 200 customers using its suite of KPIs, Actions, Risks, Governance and other related applications. Delivered as a web-hosted solution, Covalent is simple to deploy and manage with no need for IT input, and no additional hardware costs. Covalent is extremely easy-to-use with an intuitive, point and click interface that’s simple for everyone to learn.



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Jun 5, 2010

NOVACES to Release White Paper Providing Insights for Military Commanders on How to Use Continuous Process Improvement to Achieve Military Readiness

The company will release the white paper at the 2010 DoD Performance Improvement Symposium being held June 8-10 at the National Conference Center in Virginia.

New Orleans, LA (Vocus/PRWEB ) June 5, 2010 — NOVACES, a management consulting firm that specializes in process improvement services for the Department of Defense and public sector organizations, announced that it will release its latest white paper “Mission Accomplished: The Commander & Continuous Process Improvement” at the 2010 DoD Performance Improvement Symposium being held at the National Conference Center in Virginia from June 8-10.

The paper, written by Tommy Houston, Vice President of Public Sector Services for NOVACES, examines the tactical commander’s perspective on the utility of a Continuous Process Improvement program to achieve results that positively affect military readiness and professional development of military personnel.

Houston, a retired military officer, was able to draw on 30 years of leadership experience and major DoD change efforts, such as Task Force XXI, Division XXI and the Stryker Brigade Combat Team, to write this latest paper in a series that is devoted to solutions for successfully deploying Lean Six Sigma and Continuous Process Improvement (CPI) in defense.



“In essence, the application of CPI to the command is an extension of what we have practiced as military leaders for 200 years, just applied with more precision and more tools, and pushed down to a much lower level,” said Houston. “The job of the unit leadership is to identify the right people. You are already tasking your good people to solve your toughest problems, why not give them the tools and techniques to do it better.”



“Mission Accomplished: The Commander & Continuous Process Improvement” will be available at the company’s exhibit at this year’s DoD Performance Improvement Symposium. The symposium is an event dedicated to providing a forum for sharing information about performance improvement initiatives among senior Defense officials, Federal Government leaders, Service leaders, Deployment leaders and Transformation leaders from all branches and agencies of the DoD.



For those not attending the symposium, the white paper is available for download at www.novaces.com/government-defense. It will be accompanied by a webinar presentation by Tommy Houston on Tuesday, July 13 from 1-2 PM EDT, which will allow time for questions and discussion amongst the attendees. Registration information for the webinar can be found at www.novaces.com/commander-cpi-webinar.

Jun 30, 2010

NOVACES Launches New RAC Preparedness Solution to Assist Healthcare Organizations to Quickly Implement Best Practices in Response Management

The company’s Recovery Audit Contractor (RAC) Preparedness Solution greatly reduces the time required to implement RAC response best practices and can dramatically reduce Medicare take-back risk with the 3-day Rapid Deployment Workshop.

New Orleans, LA (Vocus) June 30, 2010 — NOVACES, a provider of healthcare Lean Six Sigma, continuous process improvement (CPI) and quality management consulting and training services, announced today the rollout of its RAC Audit Preparedness Solution. The service designed for hospitals and large physician practices draws upon the company’s considerable expertise in healthcare process improvement. The program uncovers and eliminates the root causes of a healthcare organization’s audit vulnerabilities, saving time, money and the potential for excessive Medicare take-backs.



In recognition of the critical role that workflow plays in Recovery Audit Contractor preparedness, NOVACES has developed the solution as a turnkey activity that eliminates wasted steps and identifies the bottlenecks in an organization’s RAC response process. The program, which can be accomplished in five days over a three-week period for most facilities, provides the organization with the workflows and tools to ensure data accuracy and compliant audit response times.



“Too often, RAC Audit preparedness focuses too much on software to handle its coordination and deadlines,” said director of healthcare services and former Chief Nursing Officer Charles Mount of NOVACES. “While software can play a role in RAC, these systems typically overlook the inefficiencies in processes that lead to costly errors and delays. Equally important, the solution synchronizes the team and frees up providers for their patient care responsibilities rather than spending precious time on RAC.”



The service is designed to drastically reduce the cost and distraction that an organization would incur to design and build the infrastructure required to respond to an audit from scratch. Regardless of where a healthcare organization is in its audit preparation, the results can be seen in a facility’s bottom line almost immediately.



Deborah Smith, the company’s RAC Preparedness team leader and former VP of Process Improvement for the largest healthcare system in the state of Colorado, reflects upon her experience preparing for an audit, “RAC is a complex process. Assembling the right information and the right team of experts to meet the requirements will be critical. RAC can be a distraction to the patient care team and cause cash flow disruptions if you are not ready.”



NOVACES is offering a free consultation to those responsible for RAC preparedness by filling out a short questionnaire on its website at www.novaces.com/rac-preparedness. Additionally, Deborah Smith will be presenting a webinar “Best Practices in RAC Preparedness” on July 20 at 1 PM EDT that will outline the most important elements that need to be in place to successfully respond to an audit. Registration information for the webinar is also available at www.novaces.com/rac-preparedness.



About NOVACES NOVACES is a leading provider of healthcare Lean Six Sigma, continuous process improvement (CPI) and quality management consulting and training services to both the public and private sectors. By leveraging over two decades of applied research experience, the company is capable of delivering today’s most effective methods for generating breakthroughs in operational capabilities and financial performance. NOVACES serves hospitals, medical centers, large physician networks and practices, nursing homes and rehabilitation centers. Employing its SystemCPI roadmap, the company provides a framework to deploy and manage a process improvement program that helps clients more rapidly achieve return on investment and self-sufficiency. For more information, visit www.novaces.com or call 1-877-577-6888.

May 25, 2010

Healthcare Lean Six Sigma and Hospital Process Improvement Projects Received Awards from Department of the Navy

NOVACES and its Navy Medicine counterparts received the DoN’s coveted awards at the organization’s annual continuous process improvement advanced training and development symposium, attended by 500 Navy CPI leaders and practitioners.



New Orleans, LA (Vocus/PRWEB ) May 25, 2010 — Two healthcare Lean Six Sigma and hospital continuous process improvement (CPI) projects that NOVACES supported received awards from the Department of the Navy (DoN) at the 2010 DoN Continuous Process Improvement (CPI) Advanced Training and Development Workshop. The Lean Six Sigma projects conducted with Navy Medicine, resulted in documented cost savings, operational improvements and improved quality outcomes.



NOVACES is contracted to provide Lean Six Sigma (LSS) deployment support, project mentoring and additional training to Navy Medicine’s four major Echelon III Regional Commands: Navy Medicine East, Portsmouth, VA; Navy Medicine National Capital Area, Bethesda, MD; Navy Medicine West, San Diego, CA; and Navy Medicine Support Command.



The first award-winning project focused on timely coding completion of outpatient records for Navy Medicine. The Lean Six Sigma project decreased defective outpatient records by 50 percent, reduced coding errors by 89 percent and recaptured $1.2 million in non-value added work hours. The second winning project focused on medical screenings of U.S. reservists and resulted in a financial benefit of $4 million.



NOVACES and its Navy Medicine counterparts received the DoN’s coveted awards at the organization’s annual continuous process improvement advanced training and development symposium, attended by 500 Navy CPI leaders and practitioners. These projects competed with 60 other Navy CPI initiatives.



“It is very rewarding to partner with Navy Medicine in their efforts to improve efficiency as well as improve the care delivered to the nation’s sailors, marines, and their families,” said Dan Chauncey, director of deployment services for NOVACES. “These awards are two indicators of how serious they are taking this endeavor and we are seeing equal improvements across the enterprise. The Lean Six Sigma practices we are working with the Navy are just as applicable to civilian and other government healthcare organizations.”



The company’s proprietary healthcare Lean Six Sigma program, SystemCPI, effectively addresses many of the complex challenges faced by today’s hospitals and health providers, including issues related to cost controls, billing and collections, patient and procedure coding, core quality indicators, patient and visitor safety, patient throughput and discharge processes, data and patient records management, patient satisfaction and medical claims processing as well as pharmacy, laboratory and technology workflow.