From paul.kholer at gmail.com Sat Sep 15 13:20:50 2007 From: paul.kholer at gmail.com (paul.kholer paul.kholer) Date: Sat, 15 Sep 2007 14:20:50 +0300 Subject: [Shtoom] Alexis Koskan - Leaning Toward Lean: Clear Thinking For Better Health(Care) Message-ID: <19de303e0709150420h2240b9bal7ab42f54c73f7d1d@mail.gmail.com> Alexis Koskan Mindfulness is all about paying attention. It's amazing what can be accomplished when mindfulness is applied to systems that need all the attention they can get. If there's an industry that needs some CPR and TLC, it's healthcare. Cindy Jimmerson is a 30-year trauma nurse who is passionate about streamlining healthcare processes. Her consulting company, Lean HealthCare West, is blasting through always-done-it-that-way thinking to reduce waiting time for patients, eliminate staff errors, and save hospitals and patients millions of dollars. She is the Queen of Lean in hospitals, and she's on a mission to improve the health of our country's largest industry--$1.76 trillion in 2002, and soon to explode as the baby-boomers hit their sixties. When it comes to looking for powerful tools for transforming processes, we're fortunate to have a proven model that continues to outperform peers around the world. The Toyota Production System was originally developed by an American, W. Edwards Deming, who couldn't get anyone in the U.S. to pay attention to his approach. The Japanese listened and learned. Today, TPS continues to propel industries toward greater productivity, less waste, improved quality, and increased workplace appreciation. Cindy's firm takes TPS straight to the ER and beyond. Now, you might think that a model focusing on getting product moved through the assembly line more efficiently is completely inappropriate for handling human patients. You would be dead wrong. TPS focuses on adding value to what matters most--in this case, caring for patients. In doing so, it takes a hard look at every step taken which results in less contact with those who need care. The customer is king, and in healthcare, the customer is the patient. Instead of developing ways to make hospitals more profitable by relegating the patient to widget status, TPS restores the patient as the primary focus. How refreshing! There's a common misconception that people do not like change. I happen to love rearranging rooms every season. However, I'd probably get a little cranky if I walked into my house and found that someone else had moved all the furniture. The real story is that people do not like change that is imposed upon them, but they appreciate being part of the solution. Employees using TPS love having the opportunity to creatively explore options that allow them to perform their work with greater efficiency. And why not? It helps them reconnect to the best parts of their job. Toyota walks its talk. It would be one thing if the company had a policy of being "open to suggestions" while rarely making any changes. But Toyota consistently acts on its employees' recommendations. In fact, the most recent figures indicate that the company implemented 99% of its yearly total of over 700,000 employee ideas! That same emphasis on valuing the knowledge and experience of employees and trusting them to develop better processes is the key to tackling healthcare's estimated waste--a whopping 50%. TPS is mindfulness in action--paying attention to extra steps, inconvenient sequences, and indirect communication. The best part? Anyone can do it. Doctors, nurses and other hospital workers are hard-working, compassionate people who are committed to providing their patients with top-notch care. Broken systems get in the way. Mindful management can repair those systems, and in the process, everyone wins. Mindfulness at work? It works. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From paul.kholer at gmail.com Sat Sep 15 15:30:45 2007 From: paul.kholer at gmail.com (paul.kholer paul.kholer) Date: Sat, 15 Sep 2007 16:30:45 +0300 Subject: [Shtoom] Cold Weather Blues Eased with Music Therapy - Asolidgoldsound Message-ID: <19de303e0709150630y584d39d0scbdfdb378651908d@mail.gmail.com> Asolidgoldsound Sally Fletcher, a professional harpist and author on the healing power of music, suggests ways to use music to cope with depression and negative emotions during the gloomy winter months. "Music has often been used to relieve stress, enhance mood, and create a general sense of well being," states Fletcher. "It affects emotions, which have been shown to have a profound impact on physiology, including heart rate, breathing, and blood pressure." The growing health care field of Music Therapy is often associated with stress management programs, relaxation, pain management and to promote wellness. A Symposium at Stanford's Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics last year focused on the therapeutic benefits of musical rhythm. Researchers suggest that rhythmic music may affect brain function and treat a range of neurological conditions such as depression, bringing lasting benefits to one's state of mind, even when no longer listening to the music. Fletcher believes that harp music is well suited to provide these benefits. The harp is a harmonic instrument that allows the harpist to play a wide variety of music, styles, textures and accompaniments rather than melodies only. However, the choice of music is very personal and needs to suit the individual. Whatever the choice of instrumentation and musical style, she suggests that people begin their listening sessions with music that has a fairly slow and relaxing tempo, gradually adding selections with a more rapid tempo. "The music will become a stimulant," continues Fletcher, "that increases the production of endorphins, energizes and quickens brain activity, and helps the listener to focus and think more clearly." Fletcher is pleased that people who listen to her music, both those for whom she performs live harp performances and those who listen to her CDs, regularly write to her about the mood enhancing qualities of her music. "I encourage everyone to embrace this effective, low cost way to ease depression and stress," she continues, "especially during the winter season when higher rates of depression are often reported." -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From paul.kholer at gmail.com Tue Sep 18 10:17:28 2007 From: paul.kholer at gmail.com (paul.kholer paul.kholer) Date: Tue, 18 Sep 2007 11:17:28 +0300 Subject: [Shtoom] a1 leasing - Anything RV Inc Announces the Launch of its Anything Trucker Equipment Auction Available at its Anything Trucker Online Marketplace Message-ID: <19de303e0709180117r72f82102w973af59a3e8f1404@mail.gmail.com> a1 leasing - http://a1leasing.com/ Casper, WY (PRWeb) March 28, 2007 -- Anything RV, Inc announces the launch of its Anything Trucker Equipment Auction available at its Anything Trucker web-site that lets users buy and sell items in an auction format. The intent of the Anything Trucker Equipment Auction is to provide our RV, trucker and boating customers an opportunity to sell their equipment and accessories in a highly focused on-line environment, evidenced by our various on-line marketplace operations. In other words, customer prospects are already shopping and the availability of the Anything Trucker Equipment Auction will improve the probability of an interested buyer finding the sellers listing. Registered users may place items up for auction and may bid on other user's items. To register, user's must provide name, address, as well as their email address and must be 18 years of age or older. When selling an item, users must enter a description, upload a photograph and indicate the minimum or reserve price for the item. The user may also indicate what payments will be accepted, method of payment, terms of sale, transfer of title and who will pay for shipping. Sellers are notified by email when an auction is concluded. If a winner exists, the winner an seller are provided each other's contact information. Buyers will have an opportunity to purchase via a variety of standard process's, including credit cards, paypal, checks or wire transfer as determined by the seller of the equipment. Anything Trucker Equipment Auction announces that it will waive its listing fee and other add-on features for the first 90 days beginning April 1, 2007; however, a $50.00 transaction fee is charged, only when a sale is concluded. According to Jean Morgan, President of Anything RV, Inc.(TM), "The Anything Trucker Equipment Auction is an example of our effort to provide customers another valuable service while creating a one-stop shopping experience at each on our on-line stores. Customers buying or selling motor-homes, travel trailers, campers, commercial trucks and trailers as well as boats and motors will find this system to be of great benefit. The Equipment Auction feature has the potential to expand our product sales while providing another source of income from the anything network." -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: