The Quality Colloquium - Davis Balestracci Bio

DAVIS BALESTRACCI, MS

VISION

Facilitate a cultural transformation in improvement of quality and productivity at all levels of an organization through creating an "emotionally intelligent" environment in response to change that is committed to honest communication, process-oriented thinking, and data 'sanity.'

COMPETENCIES:

Sharp analytic skills in simple and complex statistical methods with application to both organizational outcomes and administrative processes

Excellent verbal and written communication skills: Effective utilization of adult learning principles and change management to assure success in diverse environments across all organizational levels

Effectively mentor applications of statistical thinking to solve everyday work problems

The ability to defuse tense work situations and facilitate win-win solutions that identify and respect the needs of the business

Personal coaching & executive mentoring to manage change

A practical approach to implementing Emotional Intelligence at all levels of an organization

The facilitation of honest dialogue between management and workers regarding difficult organizational issues of cultural change

Passionate, provocative, challenging public speaker who is practical and results-oriented

SUMMARY OF ACCOMPLISHMENTS:

Adapted statistical manufacturing techniques to management and service delivery into an integrated quality improvement philosophy with an international reputation in healthcare.

Educated, facilitated and coached all levels of management and staff to improve a wide range of processes, including analysis of productivity, accounts receivable and budgeting.

Established state-of-the-art curriculum designs and techniques combining key principles from diverse theoreticians within a real world context of change, conflict, leadership, total quality management, statistics and adult learning. Enabled staff and management to measure and demonstrate improvement in organization performance.

Earned multiple quality awards for demonstrating improvement in product quality, for innovative teaching of statistical methods, for improvement in educational programs and for increasing customer satisfaction. Also recognized for quality of teaching modules and instruction.

Developed international reputation as a passionate, provocative, yet practical speaker, teacher, and author in both statistics and organizational change/transformation

WORK HISTORY:

Improvement Consultant
Harmony Consulting, LLC
2/01-present
(Sole owner & principal)

Further development of improvement philosophy to integrate data skills into an organizational transformational model based in improvement. Services include:

Public speaking via plenary sessions, breakout sessions, and 1/2-day and full-day seminars on data "sanity"-the use of statistical thinking in everyday work-understanding the psychology of organizational transformation, and using balanced scorecard methodology,
Executive retreats on managing organizational change-a methodology for developing a result-oriented vision of the future and managing the work culture towards it,
Executive coaching on leadership skills,
Consultation with management teams and analyst teams on current uses of data to develop more effective analyses/displays and a more process-oriented approach for managing with data.

June-July 2005: Quality Assurance specialist for a Palestinian mother/child healthcare improvement project sponsored by US Aid.

Since October 2003, under the sponsorship of the National Health Service's Modernisation Agency (Now Institute for Innovation), I was a plenary speaker on the use of data, balanced scorecards, and cultural aspects of change at five major conferences and have subsequently consulted with almost 100 hospitals and strategic health authorities.

In August 2005, I participated on a team sponsored by University Research Corporation, LLC to improve treatment on stroke and cerebral palsy treatment at a physical therapy facility in Vietnam.

In 2001-2002, worked extensively with an Emergency Medical Services network involving the states of Oklahoma, Nevada, and North Carolina.

Research Analyst
BlueCross and BlueShield of Minnesota
10/98-1/01
(Reported to Chief Medical Officer)

Statistical Specialist, Park Nicollet Clinic
(400 physicians, 2000 support staff, 25 locations, and a hospital)
1/92-10/98
(Reported to Medical Director & CEO)

Responsibilities from 1/92-1/01:

Facilitate the integration of quality directly into the fabric of everyday organizational culture
Provide organizational leadership and mentoring in statistical methodology
Consultation at all organizational levels in planning, collection, analysis/display, and interpretation of routine operational data
Consultation in effective survey design and analysis
Employee satisfaction process and evaluation
Design and redesign of appropriate in-house educational processes and supporting materials, including addressing issues of change, conflict, leadership, and behavior
Facilitate administrative and clinical project teams

Significant accomplishments:

Routine reporting of organizational indicators for feedback and productivity via statistical control charts
Co-facilitating development and production of an organizational "balanced scorecard" of key indicators
Development of innovative approaches for analyzing "Account receivables days outstanding"
Original design and ongoing analysis of divisional employee satisfaction survey
Development and delivery of a "just-in-time," action-based change agent curriculum and follow-up process based on Brian Joiner's Fundamentals of 4th Generation Management
Development and delivery of in-house "Emotional Intelligence" seminar
Original design of management/front-line "retreat" for cultural "audit"

Lead Statistician
3M
4/90-12/91
St. Paul, MN
Senior Statistician
2/85-4/90

Significant 3M Accomplishments

Two Corporate Quality Awards and a Corporate Process Technology Award
Division Quality Award, Information Services & Data Processing: for developing new and innovative approaches to in-house teaching of statistical methods, resulting in increased customer satisfaction.
Development and presentation of "Statistical Issues of Quality Improvement and Quality Management" for national accounts of 3M Health Care Total Quality Management business
Adapting statistical methods for manufacturing to management/service quality efforts with effective communication to executive and worker level personnel.
Development and presentation of "Statistics and Process Management" module: consistently voted one of best modules and best instructors (out of 25) in 4-week program given to new hire process engineers.
Active participation in corporate programs such as the Annual 3M Quality Conference, 3M Technical Forum, and Statistical Consulting Corporate Seminar Series.

Member, Technical Staff
RCA, David Sarnoff Research Center
1/84-1/85
Princeton, N.J.
Statistician
FMC Corporation
6/80-1/84
Princeton, N.J.

Responsibilities from 6/80-12/91:

Design and analysis of experimental studies (research and manufacturing)
Increase process understanding and quality/productivity improvement at manufacturing facilities
Participate on vendor relations improvement teams and teach seminars on quality statistics as requested by vendors
Innovative adaption of statistical methods to management and administrative process improvement.
In-house statistical general education (basic statistics, statistical process control, design of experiments, regression analysis, process capability, test methods) at research centers and manufacturing facilities as requested

EDUCATION:

1978-1980	Department of Statistics, University of Minnesota M.S. degree awarded Curriculum included statistical theory, design of experiments, regression analysis, categorical data analysis, multivariate analysis, sampling, advanced biometric analysis, psychology of consulting.
1976-1978	Department of Music, University of Minnesota Graduate courses taken in music history, theory, and conducting.
1974-1976	Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Minnesota
1970-1974	Department of Chemical Engineering, Worcester Polytechnic Institute; Worcester, Mass. B.S. degree awarded with high distinction (GPA: 3.8/4.0) and graduate courses taken in mathematics, transport phenomena, design and polymers.

SIGNIFICANT PROFESSIONAL PRESENTATIONS:

May 2007: Grand Rounds presentation on statistics for quality improvement at Mayo Clinic

Spring 2007: Master Class to executives of Australian College of Health Service Executives on Data Sanity and Organizational Transformation

Spring 2006-2007: Two day statistics Master Class sponsored University of Auckland & all-day seminar on The Psychology of Culture Change

September 2005: Plenary presentations on Data "Sanity" and Cultural Change for Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Quality Improvement Project

All-day Data Sanity seminars at the 2002-2006 annual European Healthcare Improvement Forums,

All-day seminar at 2004 European Healthcare Forum on the psychology of culture change,

1995-2006 Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) Annual Forum all-day pre-conference seminars: "Data 'Sanity': You're Already Using Statistics (Whether You Know It or Not!)",

1998 & 2000 IHI Annual Forum breakout sessions: "Emotion-The Wildcard of Quality",

June 1997 Invited by Harvard Institute of International Development to consult for the Palestinian Quality Improvement Project. Basic seminars given to government health officials in Ramallah and Gaza and an advanced statistical seminar given to project personnel. Also included extensive consultation on current projects,

June 1997 Delivered all-day seminar on statistical thinking at the Technion in Haifa, Israel, to academic and practicing health care improvement leaders from all over Israel,

Faculty member, 1995 Quality Management Program for Health Care Organizations in the Middle East, Dahab, Egypt (for healthcare executives from Egypt, Israel, Palestine, Jordan & Morocco), Sponsored by the Alumni Society of the Harvard Middle East Institute,

Keynote speaker for statewide conferences of healthcare quality organizations in Kansas, Minnesota, Michigan, Washington, California, Alabama, British Columbia.

PUBLICATIONS:

Data "sanity": Statistics & Reality-Parts 1 & 2, Quality in Primary Care, (14) No. 1 & 2 (2006).

Current statistical columnist (beginning February 2005) for Quality Digest, a monthly magazine sent to 80,000 people

Balestracci, Davis, "Statistical Thinking Applied to Everyday Data," entire May 1999 edition of The Quality Letter, Volume 11, No. 5 (25 pages).

Balestracci, Davis, "Data 'Sanity': Statistical Thinking Applied to Everyday Data," solicited special publication for the Statistics Division of the American Society for Quality (39 pages and sent to 11,000 people), Spring 1998,

Balestracci, Davis & Barlow, Jeanine, Quality Improvement - Practical Applications for Medical Group Practice, 2nd edition, Center for Research in Ambulatory Health Care Administration, Englewood, Colorado, 1996.

Abstractor / Editor for IHI national publication, Eye On Improvement, 1993-1998.

PROFESSIONAL SOCIETIES:

Senior member American Society for Quality

PROFESSIONAL SOCIETY ACTIVITIES:

American Society for Quality (ASQ), Statistics Division Chair (10,000 members), 2003-2004,

Annual ASQ National Conference, breakout sessions, May 2000 (Real World Teaching Through Data 'Sanity,'), and May 2004 (Mapping your Processes via Response Surface Methodology),

Annual ASQ National Conference, all-day pre-conference seminars, May 1997 & 2000 (Data 'Sanity') and May 2003 (Emotions: The Wildcard of Quality),

After dinner speaker at ASQ section meetings in Minnesota, Illinois, and Arizona

Association for Quality and Participation National Spring Conference breakout session, "Human Emotion: The 'Wildcard' of Quality," March 2001

ASQ Minnesota Section all-day seminars: "Quality and the Human 'Wildcard' Factor" (2000) and "Statistical Issues in Improving and Managing Administrative and Service Quality" (1990-93 & '99).

At request of Don Berwick, M.D. and Donald Goldmann, M.D., Harvard Medical School, develop and teach statistical thinking module for "Training Course in Hospital Epidemiology" sponsored by The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America, November 1996 & February 1998.