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Jan 10, 2013

Deborah Smith of NOVACES Selected for Most Powerful and Influential Women Award

Deborah Smith was recognized by Donna Brazile, Vice Chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee, and Dennis Kennedy, Founder & CEO of the National Diversity Council, during the Fourth Annual Louisiana Women’s Conference.

New Orleans, LA — The Fourth Annual Louisiana Women’s Conference was held at Dillard University in New Orleans. The conference is an annual event that aims to advance and empower women. Each year the conference holds an awards ceremony for the Most Powerful and Influential Women. Deborah Smith, a Ph.D. who runs the healthcare practice of a management consulting company called NOVACES, was honored with the award in 2012.



Ms. Smith is a widely known thought leader in healthcare performance improvement. She has over thirty years of experience in clinical and operational healthcare including leadership development, process design, organizational development and change management. Deborah has led the implementation of Lean Six Sigma for healthcare at large hospital systems. She is also a devoted educator, having taught upcoming healthcare leaders at West Virginia School of Medicine, and University of Charleston.



Before joining NOVACES, Deborah relocated to Alaska to work as Chief Strategy and Quality Officer at the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium (ANTHC), an organization that manages statewide health services for Alaska Natives. During her tenure at ANTHC, Deborah was part of the Executive Leadership Team responsible for building innovative strategies to provide health care services in one of the most challenging environments in the world to some of the most remote locations in North America.



Today, Deborah is promoting strategies to speed the implementation of healthcare reform. NOVACES, the healthcare management consulting company she now works for, helps hospitals identify and exploit constraints that prevent the transformation required to remain viable in the current reform environment. Smith wants to help hospital leaders to ‘focus and leverage’ in order to become more efficient, to control costs, and provide remarkable quality of care.



“I am honored to work in healthcare, the most complex organizations in the world! I get to share years of experience and knowledge with others while building friendships for life. To see the learning and results achieved by those whom you make an intellectual investment is my reward.”



Deborah received the 2012 Most Powerful and Influential Women Award award as a result of her work as a woman leader, her actions in the communities that she works and lives, and respect she commands as a change agent for healthcare. The award was presented by Donna Brazile, Vice Chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee, and Dennis Kennedy, Founder & CEO of the National Diversity Council.



However, there was only so much time for Deborah to reflect on these achievements at the Louisiana Women’s Conference, because the very next day she was off to rural Kansas to meet with healthcare leaders there about how to leverage limited resources to keep up with healthcare reform. So, Deborah continues her mission to transform healthcare to meet the requirements of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in 2013 and beyond.



About Deborah Smith

Deborah offers leaders a unique and sought after combination of healthcare experience with skills to lead, organize and implement structured problem solving techniques.



Deborah’s expertise includes supporting departments and sites with research, analysis, and identification of complex opportunities for improvement, while building internal capability and intellectual capital. She was a GE Medical System’s Healthcare Solutions Senior Consultant, Six Sigma Product Leader, and MBB (Master Black Belt and Change Agent).



Prior to joining NOVACES Deborah was: CEO of Physician Enterprise, Chief Strategic Planning and Quality Officer for State Consortium and President of Professional Licensure Boards. She was employed as Process Design Director for Academic Medical Center Six Sigma Team, a Six Sigma Master Black Belt and Master Change Agent, Radiologic Technologist, Cardiac Technologist, Women’s Comprehensive Care Center Administrator, Business Development Strategist, at a large tertiary medical center. She has over thirty years of experience in clinical and operational healthcare, experience in process design and performance improvement, organizational development and change management. Prior work experience includes operational management, education, external consulting, continuous improvement, medical imaging, cardiology, primary care medicine, women’s health, leadership development, and government legislation and change management education.



Her academic credentials are in healthcare, business and education with a Ph.D. in Healthcare Management, Masters in Human Resource Management, Bachelors in Education, and Associate Degree in Radiologic Technology.



About NOVACES

NOVACES is a management consulting firm that provides performance management, continuous process improvement (CPI), and project management services to both public and private sector organizations. The company helps clients build capabilities in today’s most effective methodologies to achieve breakthrough operational and financial results. NOVACES can be contacted at 504-544-6888 or by visiting the website http://www.novaces.com.

Aug 17, 2012

Lean Healthcare Training Now Available for Local Healthcare Professionals in Georgia and Northern Florida

The Lean Green Belt Training Offered By NOVACES is Being Held September 24-28 in Valdosta, Georgia. It is a Certification Course Aimed at Providing Healthcare Professionals With Proven Tools for Improving Performance and Quality of Care.

August 17, 2012 Valdosta, GA — NOVACES will host a Lean Healthcare Training in Valdosta on September 24 thru 28. Rising pressure for medical facilities to become more efficient and to control costs is creating a need for professionals who can implement Lean Healthcare, a process improvement methodology that has proven to speed up the adoption of new ideas and change to create the best place for patients and their families to receive care.

Local healthcare leaders in Georgia and Northern Florida, such as Lou Strickland, Practice Administrator for the Shaw Center for Women’s Health in Thomasville, GA, agree that a training course like this one responds to the increased demand for process improvement and change management skills for today’s professionals. “Lean process improvement has been a quality and efficiency focus in other industries for years, bringing that culture to healthcare is a strategy for improving service and clinical quality as well as cost containment. Process improvement is a big focus for the Shaw Practice as we pursue certification as a Patient-Centered Medical Home,” said Ms. Strickland.

Physician involvement is a key to so many of the improvements being implemented during Lean healthcare workshops. It is no surprise that physicians are getting trained to support these improvement initiatives. A recent training at St. Alexius Medical Center included Dr. Shiraz Hyder MD, who is a neurologist at the medical center’s specialty clinic. Dr. Hyder recognized an interesting parallel from the physician’s perspective, “Finding solutions to patient problems is second nature to a physician as they have been trained accordingly; finding solutions to systems and operational issues requires a different set of skills. Having a Lean Green Belt certification is like having an ACLS or ATLS certification, it is a proof that you have acquired necessary skills to rally a team, analyze and fix a problem.”

The Lean Healthcare training requires an instructor that understands hospitals and private practices, and course materials that are designed for teaching the concepts for application in a healthcare setting. NOVACES, a firm that specializes in teaching performance improvement to healthcare organizations, will be hosting the course at the Valdosta Hilton Garden Inn. Those who attend the course will have an opportunity to receive a Green Belt certification, a much sought after distinction for healthcare professionals looking to enhance their careers and improve the industry.

The training is a hands-on learning experience with a special healthcare simulation to help participants really understand how to apply Lean in healthcare. “This is a opportunity to learn some of the most effective tools to solve healthcare challenges. Investing in continuous improvement is a must for those who are serious about healthcare excellence,” said Deborah Smith, Senior Vice President of Healthcare Services for NOVACES.

Registration is now open for the course, and is available at http://www.novaces.com/georgia-lean-healthcare-training or by contacting Noel Huston at 504-544-6888 x203. A portion of the proceeds from the training will go to benefit the Physicians’ Institute for Excellence in Medicine, a foundation of the Medical Association of Georgia.

Aug 17, 2012

Lean Healthcare Training Now Available for Local Healthcare Professionals in Georgia and Northern Florida

The Lean Green Belt Training Offered By NOVACES is Being Held September 24-28 in Valdosta, Georgia. It is a Certification Course Aimed at Providing Healthcare Professionals With Proven Tools for Improving Performance and Quality of Care.

August 17, 2012 Valdosta, GA — NOVACES will host a Lean Healthcare Training in Valdosta on September 24 thru 28. Rising pressure for medical facilities to become more efficient and to control costs is creating a need for professionals who can implement Lean Healthcare, a process improvement methodology that has proven to speed up the adoption of new ideas and change to create the best place for patients and their families to receive care.

Local healthcare leaders in Georgia and Northern Florida, such as Lou Strickland, Practice Administrator for the Shaw Center for Women’s Health in Thomasville, GA, agree that a training course like this one responds to the increased demand for process improvement and change management skills for today’s professionals. “Lean process improvement has been a quality and efficiency focus in other industries for years, bringing that culture to healthcare is a strategy for improving service and clinical quality as well as cost containment. Process improvement is a big focus for the Shaw Practice as we pursue certification as a Patient-Centered Medical Home,” said Ms. Strickland.

Physician involvement is a key to so many of the improvements being implemented during Lean healthcare workshops. It is no surprise that physicians are getting trained to support these improvement initiatives. A recent training at St. Alexius Medical Center included Dr. Shiraz Hyder MD, who is a neurologist at the medical center’s specialty clinic. Dr. Hyder recognized an interesting parallel from the physician’s perspective, “Finding solutions to patient problems is second nature to a physician as they have been trained accordingly; finding solutions to systems and operational issues requires a different set of skills. Having a Lean Green Belt certification is like having an ACLS or ATLS certification, it is a proof that you have acquired necessary skills to rally a team, analyze and fix a problem.”

The Lean Healthcare training requires an instructor that understands hospitals and private practices, and course materials that are designed for teaching the concepts for application in a healthcare setting. NOVACES, a firm that specializes in teaching performance improvement to healthcare organizations, will be hosting the course at the Valdosta Hilton Garden Inn. Those who attend the course will have an opportunity to receive a Green Belt certification, a much sought after distinction for healthcare professionals looking to enhance their careers and improve the industry.

The training is a hands-on learning experience with a special healthcare simulation to help participants really understand how to apply Lean in healthcare. “This is a opportunity to learn some of the most effective tools to solve healthcare challenges. Investing in continuous improvement is a must for those who are serious about healthcare excellence,” said Deborah Smith, Senior Vice President of Healthcare Services for NOVACES.

Registration is now open for the course, and is available at http://www.novaces.com/georgia-lean-healthcare-training or by contacting Noel Huston at 504-544-6888 x203. A portion of the proceeds from the training will go to benefit the Physicians’ Institute for Excellence in Medicine, a foundation of the Medical Association of Georgia.

Jul 24, 2012

Veterans Health Administration Steadily Increasing Use of Lean Six Sigma Process Improvement to Support Its Systems Redesign Initiative

NOVACES is Providing Consulting Services for Lean Six Sigma Process Improvement Training and Projects at Various VISNs and VA Hospitals Including Bay Pines VA Healthcare System, Fargo VA Medical Center and North Chicago VA FHCC Medical Center.



July 24, 2012 New Orleans, LA — Troop drawdowns in Iraq and Afghanistan and impending cuts in number of troops directed by the DoD has created an urgent need for business transformation within the VA hospital system that supports our veterans after they have transitioned back to civilian life. Among the various improvement strategies for the VHA is the Systems Redesign, which aims to improve healthcare quality and access to care for veterans.



Systems Redesign leadership in the VHA has been using the process improvement methodology called Lean Six Sigma, which in the last decade has become a key management strategy and driver of change for civilian hospitals, to provide fundamental quality and process improvement tools to the teams who are leading transformation efforts within the VA Medical Centers.



Fargo VA Medical Center could be considered one of the more advanced VA medical centers in terms of adoption of Lean Six Sigma. The organization held a workshop in 2012 on how to manage improvement initiatives, which included an overview of the Lean Six Sigma methodology. Since then, the adoption of Lean Six Sigma has been steadily growing within the organization.



To develop the program from its early stages, leaders of Fargo VA Medical Center Systems Redesign contracted with NOVACES, a management consulting firm that specializes in performance improvement for veteran healthcare, for guidance on how to incorporate the VA High Performance Development Model and Veterans Health Administration System Redesign objectives.



“The right blend of Systems Redesign, TAMMCS, Lean Six Sigma and PDSA in a collaborative setting creates an environment for VA medical centers, like the one being experienced in Fargo, that promotes the kind of improvements needed to continue providing our nation’s veterans with the very highest quality healthcare services,” said retired U.S. Navy Captain Charles Mount, director of government healthcare services at NOVACES.



Other VA healthcare facilities, including VISN 8 Bay Pines VA Medical Center and North Chicago VA James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center (FHCC) are also rigorously investing in Lean Six Sigma by training staff and leadership and completing improvement projects that are aligned with strategic plans.



Similar to the widespread adoption of Lean Six Sigma in civilian healthcare, healthcare performance improvement experts promote the rigor and analytical capabilities of this healthcare process improvement methodology to also drive the tremendous amount of change that the currently strained VHA healthcare system must undergo to meet the demand for care generated by the nation’s 22 million veterans.



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Mar 5, 2012

Business Leaders Counting on New Best-Selling Book ‘Epiphanized: Integrating Theory of Constraints, Lean and Six Sigma’ to Improve Their Profitability

‘Epiphanized’ by Bob Sproull and Bruce Nelson quickly landed on Amazon’s Best Sellers List as national executives and managers search for professional guidance on how to survive and operate a profitable business in a tumultuous economy.

New Orleans, LA (PRWEB) March 05, 2012 — NOVACES process improvement consultant and business turnaround expert Bob Sproull recently released his newest book to industry acclaim, ‘Epiphanized: Integrating Theory of Constraints, Lean and Six Sigma.’ The book quickly landed on Amazon’s Best Sellers List as national executives and managers search for professional guidance on how to survive and operate a profitable business in a tumultuous economy.



“I wrote this book for the same reason I wrote my other two books. Because I believe that I had a valuable message to share with businesses to make them more profitable. In this economy, companies need an edge to become profitable or more profitable. This latest book shows companies how to do just that,” says Sproull.



‘Epiphanized’ follows the journey of a fuel tank manufacturing company, Barton Enterprises, struggling to meet customer demands without sacrificing profit margins. It begins with an ultimatum given to the company’s vice president of operations: “fix the problems or lose your job.” Joe Pecci, a performance and continuous process improvement expert, is hired to transform Barton Enterprises by integrating Theory of Constraints, Lean and Six Sigma process improvement methodologies. Throughout the book, Pecci meets other characters and one by one they each realize epiphanies of their own.



Sproull and co-author Bruce Nelson have incorporated a meticulous Appendix for the readers who want a more technical know-how and details for how the various tools and principles woven into the storyline work. Sproull says, “I especially want American businesses to grow and flourish and I believe if they follow the guidelines in ‘Epiphanized,’ they will. I also wanted to introduce some new tools that I’ve used in recent years and writing a book provides me the opportunity to do that.”



‘Epiphanized’ is available now on Amazon.com.



About the Author

Bob Sproull is a senior business consultant for NOVACES and a certified Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt and Theory of Constraints Jonah. He has an extensive performance and continuous process improvement consulting background in manufacturing, healthcare and Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) and focuses on teaching companies how to maximize their profitability through an integrated Theory of Constraints, Lean and Six Sigma (TLS) improvement methodology. Prior to his position with NOVACES, he served as manager of the Office of Continuous Improvement for Army Fleet Support and the vice president of quality, engineering and continuous improvement for two different manufacturing companies. Sproull is a nationally known speaker and author of three different books. He resides in Kennesaw, Ga. and has been married for almost 44 years.



About NOVACES

NOVACES is a management consulting firm that provides continuous process improvement programs and project management services to both public and private sector organizations. Headquartered in New Orleans, LA, NOVACES helps clients build capabilities in today’s most effective methodologies to achieve breakthrough operational and financial results. More information can be found at http://www.novaces.com or by calling 1-855-NOVACES.



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Feb 24, 2012

Profit Improvement Expert and Author Bob Sproull to Speak At 2012 Continuous Process Improvement Symposium

Bob Sproull, an author, executive and business turnaround expert, to present at the 2012 Continuous Process Improvement Symposium based on his recently released book “Epiphanized: Integrating Theory of Constraints, Lean and Six Sigma.” Sproull’s presentation will include a case study of an initiative to improve aircraft availability and mission readiness using the strategy he advocates in his book.

New Orleans, LA (Feb. 24, 2012) – In this seventh year of the annual Continuous Process Improvement Symposium, the committee has developed an agenda with a mission to propagate largely unknown management methods that, if adopted by U.S. companies, can transform the economy and restore competitiveness. One of this year’s key speakers is Bob Sproull, an author, executive and business turnaround expert, who recently released his book “Epiphanized: Integrating Theory of Constraints, Lean and Six Sigma.”





Sproull is to give two presentations that derive from his current work in the manufacturing and Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) industries. “The Importance of Knowing Where to Hammer” is discussion of systems and interconnectedness, the shortcomings of local improvements or improving processes in isolation from a business context. “The importance of knowing where to hammer… the reality that every system has a weakest link that must be identified, exploited and leveraged must be top-of-mind for every leader,” says Sproull.





The first presentation will be followed by an aviation maintenance case study that will show the results of an initiative where Lean Six Sigma and Theory of Constraints were applied together. Sproull’s most recent work in aviation MRO allowed for these methods to be applied and fine tuned to achieve extraordinary improvements in mission readiness and aircraft availability that are not commonly achieved with traditional process improvement approaches in the MRO environment.





The symposium is being held at California State University North Ridge on February 24-25 and will focus on management methodologies including Lean, Six Sigma, Theory of Constraints, and Critical Chain Project Management. For those who cannot travel to the site, a live video feed is available during the show and recordings will be available afterwards at the symposium’s website: www.cpi-symposiums.com.





About Bob Sproull


Bob Sproull is a Senior Business Consultant for NOVACES since 2011 and former Manager of the Office of Continuous Improvement for Army Fleet Support. Bob is a certified Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt and a Theory of Constraints Jonah. Bob is an experienced manufacturing executive who has served as a Vice President of Quality, Engineering and Continuous Improvement for two different manufacturing companies, has an extensive consulting background in Manufacturing, Healthcare and MRO and focuses on teaching companies how to maximize their profitability through an integrated Theory of Constraints, Lean and Six Sigma (TLS) improvement methodology. Bob is a nationally known speaker and author of three different books. Bob resides in Kennesaw, GA and has been married to his lovely wife Beverly for almost 44 years.

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