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Showing posts from 2009

Predicting the cost of acute-care nursing

A research project I directed was presented at the 25th Patient Classification Systems International (PCSI) Working Conference in Fukuoka, Japan on November 14, 2009. The project was funded by the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care Nursing Secretariat. It investigate the use of proxies to estimate nursing workload on an individual patient basis. The link to the presentation write up is http://bit.ly/NB_PCSI

Retail Healthcare Lowering cost

The majority of us don't need high cost interventions in health care. We may need the occasional check-up, flu shot or prescription. Our family doctor can schedule an annual physical and for the other common complains see you for 15-20 minutes. In consulting we are all aware of the 80-20 rule or Pareto principal. It goes like this, 20% of the people usually result in 80% of the costs. It is a general rule that seems to pop-up everywhere. And it is no surprise that it is the case in health care. High cost of care endangers our health care system. We can apply our attention to 80% of the population and help deliver the low cost health care more efficiency. Or we can apply our attention to the 20% or the population that drive the majority of the high-cost of health care. The value of eHealth is still unproved, yet the potential benefits is significant. Using electronic health records and online health systems means greater integration of care and data. Quality improvements can be

Vision vs. Creativity

Our ability to invent sets us apart. Being creative is something we are taught. Being a visionary,I believe is something we acquire through experience. Which of these two is most valuable? Imagination is a trait we encourage in children. Ingenuity is not taught, but is part of our character. Invention is only possible when it is used to produce or create. Being creative and taking a vision to fruition is the greatest of accomplishments. Ideas without follow through are puffs of smoke. Taking an idea and transforming it to a product, a tool and invention takes a belief in our abilities. All of this is something we can learn and must strive to achieve. Without it dreams would just disappear like morning dew.

Bo's career in a paragraph

Most of my career has been spent promoting the use and development of open source software. I believe strongly that putting a product in the public domain can make it better than it could be if it were entirely created behind closed doors. My clients who are not using or writing oss are usually creating something that is either directly in support of, or related to the public interest. I have been fortunate to work with great academics, public servants, and entrepreneurs.

Technology and results

There is an increasing amount of technology available these days. Mobile devices; iPhone, Blackberry, Android: Operating systems; MAC, Windows, Linux and web frameworks; PHP, mySQL, AJAX. All these technologies have purpose yet each requires time to learn and master. We need to recognize that we can not be all things to all people. We need to be focused on the results not just the technology that gets us to our goal.

A new beginning

Formalizing my foray into the consulting world is an exciting opportunity. To be doing so with highly regarded colleagues is even better. Like many others, a wide range of employment and volunteer experiences have led me to develop expertise that is much needed in today’s demanding and complex health care world. I look forward to determining how I and our team can help you address your challenges – whether strategic, operational or procedural in nature.

Strategic development

My current clients range from the largest teaching hospital in Ontario to a large multi-site community hospital to a small hospital. The projects range from developing international strategies, creating strategy-based balanced scorecards, developing business intelligence strategies, analysing future regional patient flow based upon program changes, and developing an academic strategy.

The World According to Sean

I have learned many things in my life. Two of these lessons hold fast and true for me - one lesson I learned in school and the other I've always felt in my heart. SCHOOL'S LESSON: Around 1932 Werner Heisenberg postulated that "...we cannot observe something with affecting the outcome ..." This is a very simple way of stating the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle which I learned while doing a minor degree in Quantum Physics. Why do I find this significant you might ask ? I am always conscious of this concept and have found in my work career that this statement holds true in every aspect of nature. A LESSON FROM THE HEART: Even before I was married or even dating, I always had ideas about how things should be . Walt Disney said it best when he said "...a man should never neglect his family for business ..." which in some ways is equivalent to the ol' adage "...I work to live. I don't live to work ...". Above all else in my life, this h

What is Leadership?

Leadership is something we all know about. A good leader is someone we can trust to look after best interests; of the team, project or organization we work in. I believe we are all leaders as we all take responsibility and set goals and strive to reach success. We follow good leaders, we admire successful teams. Working together we can achieve more then we can on our own. We need support from each other and from our leaders. Great leaders develop leadership in others and also know when to follow.