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Home > Resources > eNews > Sept 2000 |
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The Managed Care Insider eNews Volume Two Number 8 September 2000 PART ONE of TWO Welcome to The Managed Care Insider eNews. You are receiving this because you have subscribed; the eNews is never sent unsolicited. Subscribe/unsubscribe information can be found at the end of this eNews. The Managed Care Insider eNews is published, copyrighted, and owned by The Scheur Management Group, Inc. (SMG), http://www.scheur.com and is distributed monthly, free to subscribers. If you wish to forward this edition, you may do so only if the edition is forwarded in its entirety. No reproduction of any part of this publication is permitted without the express permission of the publishers. ---------------------------------------------------------------- This issue of The Managed Care Insider eNews continues our series of articles that focuses on finding and keeping qualified professionals. This month, our eNews focuses on human resources (HR) in the healthcare workplace -- how employers and employees, and their benefits, health and hiring, can affect the business operations. For ease of electronic transmission, our HR article will be continued into Part Two of this issue. As always, we invite your comments and suggestions to insider@scheur.com. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Tips for Improving the Healthcare Work Environment by David Buchmueller The workforce paradox in today's economy also applies to the healthcare industry. On one hand, the labor market is tight with unemployment around 4 %. Nurses, info tech staff, physical therapists and others are in short supply. And companies, like those in Fortune's "100 Best Companies to Work For in America," (www.fortune.com/fortune/bestcompanies/) are going all out to attract and retain employees with benefits and perks, from stock options to concierge services to free trips to Hawaii. On the other, with downward pressure on prices and the need to do more with less, corporate downsizings continue, eroding what might be left of employee loyalty, and some healthcare managers seem to throw fuel on the fire of employee discontent through the ill-advised things they say and do. Given the above industry conundrum, how can healthcare managers increase employee loyalty and improve the workplace environment? Here are 13 guidelines for healthcare managers. These strategies are not really new. And this is not rocket science. But most of us need the discipline and courage to practice these behaviors and to do them consistently. 1. HIRE RIGHT It pays to take the time and expend the resources to be very clear about what kind of person you're looking for. It's more than matching experience to a job description. The value systems have to align - and much more. The point of hiring is the time to set the high standards that you want to characterize every element of your organization. For example, if prospective employees can't buy into the clearly enunciated patient and customer focus of a hospital's mission and philosophy, they should go no further. Similarly, managers who regard doctors as money hungry prima donnas have no place in a health care organization. 2. TELL THEM WHAT YOU EXPECT One definition of quality is "adherence to specifications." Employees have both internal and external customers whose expectations must be met. In addition to the job description that describes what is to be done, you also need to specify how much is to be done and how well. 3. GIVE THEM THE TOOLS To do their best, employees need the right equipment, materials and information to do the job. It is wrong to cut corners where the staff-patient interface is concerned. And if you expect people to go out and play hard for the team, you have to let them see the scoreboard - - in terms of financial, productivity, quality and other reports. 4. HELP THEM FEEL PROUD The CEO must personally communicate the importance of the mission and how important that individual employee is in carrying it out. (Listen to a Southwest Airlines flight attendant or baggage handler tell you how they feel about working for Chairman Herb.) This is not something you can do with buttons, badges, billboards and balloons. The bottom line may not be the only measure; however, shares of the 58 publicly traded companies in Fortune's "100 Best ..." rose 37% annualized over the past three years compared with 25% for the S&P 500. 5. TREAT THEM FAIRLY The lofty vision and values of the CEO notwithstanding, "management" in the eyes of the typical employee is his/her immediate supervisor. There is, of course, no room for discrimination or harassment. Moreover, each person is entitled to timely and objective performance reviews, aimed at helping him/her become a more productive member of the team. The review should be tied back to the expectations and to mutually determined goals. However obvious, this often doesn't happen. Conversely, if a person's performance is so consistently weak as to raise the prospect of termination, the personnel files need to contain the necessary documentation. 6. LEARN THE RULES AND PLAY BY THEM From the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) to the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) - - you need someone who can give you answers and guidance. With the federal government harvesting huge returns for each dollar spent in the Operation Restore Trust fraud and abuse campaign, you must be sure that billing, coding, contracting and other practices are fully compliant. According to Richard P. Kusserow, former Inspector General, Health and Human Services, the person who becomes a "whistle blower" is often a long service, erstwhile loyal employee who "drops a dime" only when it appears that management will not act to clean up questionable (or worse) practices. Kusserow's company, National Hotline Services (www.hotlines.com) offers a comprehensive hotline service that is used by many healthcare organizations to give employees a positive, confidential outlet for such concerns. ("Tips for Improving the Healthcare Work Environment" continues in The Managed Care Insider eNews, Vol. 2 n8 Part Two.) ---------------------------------------------------------------- Our Readers Write On the Role of Medical Directors Congratulations. Someone has finally addressed the issue ("Where Have All The Good Docs Gone?" The Managed Care Insider eNews, Vol. 2, n 7, Part One) of what the medical directors should be doing over and above watching the bottom line. I have felt for many years that basing medical decisions strictly on the bottom line is not always the right way to do things. Coming from the patient advocate perspective, it seems to me that [a] health plan's medical staff (this also includes the nurses) should look at developing protocols and guidelines that address what is best for the patient and then look at how the cost will be handled. To shortchange a patient because of the cost is not always the most effective or efficient way to do business. And people should learn about this through education from the health plan. Again the nurses could help in this education process along with the medical directors. Hopefully the health plans and the medical community will read your article and start embracing the concept. Its time has definitely come. Pat Ford, RN, BS, CPHQ, CCM Pat Ford HealthCare Consulting ---------------------------------------------------------------- What's New? Speaking Engagements Barry S. Scheur: October 6, 2000 Texas PHO Association Wyndham Hotel, Arlington, TX "Managed Care: Is It Dead?" November 15, 2000 2000 DMAA Disease Management Leadership Conference Baltimore, MD "HMO/CEO Perspective: Does Disease Management Facilitate a Health Plan Turnaround?" ---------------------------------------------------------------- Gotta minute? We need YOU to visit our archive page, scroll down, and RATE US, please. Go to http://www.scheur.com/smghome.nsf/webcontent/ezinearchives.html Thanks! ---------------------------------------------------------------- End of PART ONE of TWO, The Managed Care Insider eNews, Volume Two, Number 8. Scheur Management Group (SMG) is one of the most experienced specialized healthcare operations management and business revitalization consulting firms in the country. Our expertise is in time-sensitive analyses, strategic business and market planning, operational re-engineering, and communications, as well as implementation of start-ups, expansions, and new products. The firm's clients cover the spectrum of insurers, managed care organizations, physician groups, integrated delivery systems, hospitals, employers, governmental entities, vendors, and other providers. Contributing to this edition is David Buchmueller. Editing and Research by Judith Jaffe. Production Coordination by Nancy K. Belle. TO SUBSCRIBE: visit http://www.scheur.com/smghome.nsf/webcontent/ezine.html or send e-mail to insider@scheur.com with the word SUBSCRIBE in the subject and name, email, company, title, and country in the message. TO UNSUBSCRIBE: send email message to insider@scheur.com with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the subject. Please take a minute to visit our eNews page at http://www.scheur.com/smghome.nsf/webcontent/ezine.html for archives, subscriber information and to RATE our ezine. Get up-to-the-minute health care news on-line at www.scheur.com Go to September 2000 Part 2 |
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