SigmaWay Blog

According to an analysis, healthcare price transparency initiatives can reduce U.S healthcare expenditure by $100 billion over next decade. The analysis of the study on healthcare price transparency quantifies the potential $100B in savings from three policy initiatives:  Use state all-payer health claims databases (APCDs) to report hospital prices, require electronic health record systems to provide prices to physicians when ordering diagnostic tests, require all private health plans to provide personalized out-of-pocket expense information to enrollees. For more details please visit: http://hitconsultant.net/2014/05/16/3-ways-healthcare-price-transparency-could-save-10b-over-10-years/

A recent report suggested that small businesses are not concentrating on their online presence. Researchers said that 70 percent of small businesses spent less than one hour per week maintaining their online presence. On the other hand only 51% spend time on social media once a month or less. Small business owners are also not concentrating on their website to improve sale. This article tells us details about the different ways small business owners can give their online presence a boost in order to increase visibility, generate interest and capture any buzz. Read more at: http://www.businessnewsdaily.com/6419-bolstering-small-business-online-presence.html

The successes of big data analytics in other markets have influenced the healthcare industry. Healthcare providers are on the verge of implementing big data analytics to reduce the cost and improve the care. Hosted analytics, partnerships and collaborations, and lower-cost internal applications have opened the door for smaller organizations to use big data. As most of the providers adopted EHER, many healthcare professionals got centralized access to patient records and to manage risk, providers needed accurate data from a range of sources; hence cloud has become very significant. To know more about this topic, please visit: http://www.informationweek.com/healthcare/analytics/healthcare-dives-into-big-data/d/d-id/1251138

In the 21st century with rapid development of technology and analytics, organizations claim that they are data driven and rely on customer information gathered from a diversity of sources. Data analysis provides us the effects, but fails to interpret the causes. As per Mike Mothner CEO of Wpromote "Data can tell you that this ad is better than that one, but human intuition asks why." He also said "The key to a successful, data-driven marketing strategy is finding the perfect intersection between technology and human expertise." As there is much customer information available, it is important for commercial enterprises to determine which information is relevant for processing to reach the target. For more details please visit: http://www.businessnewsdaily.com/6393-big-data-human-interpretation.html

A recent research suggested that organizations who advertise their products as the best alternatives actually decrease the chances of success with consumers. Researchers call this problem the "maximizing mindset." As per the research, it has been seen that people who think that they have bought the best product often get disappointed with the product. Hence it is important for organizations to change the conversations with their consumers about the product. Want to know more? Please visit: http://www.businessnewsdaily.com/6411-why-saying-youre-the-best-backfires.html

Social media is one of the best tools in terms of lead generation for small-business owners. The role of a company's presence on social media has started to include customer service, building brand awareness, and lead generation. High-quality content marketing is another lead-generation tactic for small business owners to generate lead and engage consumers. Read more about this topic at: http://www.businessnewsdaily.com/6399-social-media-lead-generation.html

The healthcare industry is going to face a great challenge in coming decades. Increasing population & demographic shifts in the society will drive the industry to incur huge costs. Hence to survive, the industry must consider the following remedies: First, healthcare organizations must agree to come under a same umbrella to provide better care to the customers. This process is known as "precision M&A". Secondly, companies need to provide innovative ideas to serve the mankind. Last but not the least; companies should build "powerhouse" business which will go hand in hand with upcoming market & demographics. For more details please visit: http://www.forbes.com/sites/matthewherper/2014/05/08/the-key-to-surviving-the-new-brutal-world-of-healthcare/#&SM_LENGTH=7

Genesys, a provider of customer experience and contact center solutions, has entered into an agreement with Zendesk, a software development company, to integrate Genesys cloud contact center solution with Zendesk customer service platform.The partnership will help both companies to deliver a powerful cloud-based customer experience solution and will help to expand market opportunities globally.

To read more, visit the following link:http://www.infotechlead.com/2014/05/13/genesys-integrates-cloud-contact-center-zendesk-platform-22652

In an article by journalist Kat Greene, we get to know that the city council of Washington, D.C. imposed a tax on all health insurers. The plan was submitted by the city's DC Health Link insurance exchange. It empowers the districts to impose tax on all health-insurance carriers for exchange funding. 

To read more, visit the following link: http://www.law360.com/articles/535633/dc-council-approves-tax-to-aid-health-exchange

In an article we get to know about Multi-Channel contact center. Many of the contact centers are faced with situations in which single-channel communicators aren’t able to effectively communicate with their customers because they aren’t using the customers’ channel of choice. In order to overcome this situation, multi- channel communication is used. Here are some other ways a company can use multichannel contact to improve contact center: 1. Define the right customer experience, 2. Plan for proper resource utilization, 3. Identify measurable gains, 4. Manage service agent morale. 

Read more at: http://www.business2community.com/customer-experience/4-ways-win-multi-channel-contact-center-0888012#!QCOE3

Inability to take decisions is one of the principal reasons for the failure of any project. Good project managers need to have proper understanding of various effective tools to manage triple constraints of any project i.e. time, cost and scope. In this article tools like SWOT Analysis, Maslow's Pyramid, Pareto Principle, Monte Carlo Simulation and Decision Tree Analysis are discussed. In the field of project management, these are regarded as highly effective tools for decision making. Please go through the link for more details: http://www.projecttimes.com/articles/decision-making-models-in-project-management.html

The normal reaction towards any kind of change is always negative. To change such a scenario one must be very careful. Firstly we must explain the reason as to why the change is imminent and things which are associated with it. Secondly providing adequate support helps to accept the changes more easily and smoothly. Thus proper measures and support can help to make changes happen.  Please go through the link for more details: http://www.pmhut.com/5-tips-to-help-make-changes-happen

Moustafa Alzuabi (IT Manager at the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector and a certified project management professional), talks about some of the common misconceptions in project management. The focus of the article is mainly on uniqueness of results, project constrains, project plan and project schedule. For more details please follow this link: http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index.cfm?method=home.regcon&contentid=20140428203280

To complete a project successfully a project leader must have the details and nitty-gritty’s of the project i.e. the constraints, requirements, demands clear in his or her mind. Documentation of the details is very important for any project and so is the ability to utilize and make the most of the team members for successful completion of the project within the stipulated time. To know more about the basics of project management, please visit Olga Sa's article at: http://www.pmhut.com/10-basics-of-project-management

According to a research done by Gallup Organization's State of the American Workplace, it was found that tapping the strengths of team members can create wonders and if utilized properly and efficiently can provide highly productive results. They also found that when employees become aware of their strengths, they become 7.8% more productive. Team members should be allocated jobs based on their area of expertise which will not only be beneficial for the company but also for employees and this will give them more job satisfaction and hence will bring better results. To know about how to build the strengths of your employees, please visit Tim Clark (partner and senior analyst with The FactPoint Group, a market research and consulting firm)'s article link at: http://www.pmhut.com/11-ways-to-build-on-the-strengths-of-your-team-members

A project is not complete until it starts delivering benefits or profits to the owner of the project.
Following best techniques and using best resources while development of the project is of no use unless and until the project starts giving returns.
To know more kindly refer to the below mentioned link:-
 http://www.pmhut.com/is-a-project-complete-without-benefits-realization

Bond International Software, the global provider of recruitment and human capital management software and services, had acquired FMP Global, which provides managed payroll solutions in over 65 countries around the world, for a sum in excess of £8.5million. This acquisition of FMP Global will support Bond in broadening its customer base to multi-national companies, both in the UK and internationally. The managed payroll solutions from FMP Global are designed to fit the requirement for a centralised single payroll process that provides coordination of all aspects of setting up employees in a foreign country, without the need for a complex group of legal entities.

To read more, visit the following link:http://www.theglobalrecruiter.com/news/fmp-global-acquired-by-bond-international-software/5174

Design for Six Sigma is a design methodology. It works if properly instituted and executed. Wrongly designing and forcefully applying can cause more harm than help. If we need to implement Design for Six Sigma we should do it at the primary levels and not during the mid or operating level. To know more about this topic, go through Alan Nicol (Executive Member, AlanNicolSolutions)'s article link: http://www.manufacturing.net/articles/2012/04/wrongly-doing-design-for-six-sigma

In an article by Alyx Kaczuwka (manager of Zipwire Product Marketing), we get to know that why a company may invest in a cloud-based contact center solution. There are 5 signs which help us to take the right decision:  1. If your contact center environment is constantly changing, 2. If you’d like to help your IT department better respond to issues, 3. If you’re looking to reduce costs, 4. If you’d like to eliminate the hassles that come with hardware and software, 5. If you need to get a new solution up and running quickly. 

To read more, visit the following link: http://www.business2community.com/cloud-computing/5-signs-invest-cloud-based-contact-center-0874565#!PN6LH

Dialogic Inc. (the Network Fuel company), announced that CreaLog (a telecom platform provider), is using its PowerMedia™ XMS media server software. This software allows customers to have face-to-face conversations with agents through its call center. The WebRTC capabilities of the PowerMedia XMS let CreaLog add real-time web conferencing over an Internet browser, accessed through a PC, tablet, or smartphone.

To read more, visit the following link:http://www.prweb.com/releases/2014/05/prweb11869403.htm