Message from the President
Dear Members,
The current economic
climate is requiring all HR professionals to focus primarily on short-term
business issues such as cost reduction, revenue enhancement, and process
improvement. In today’s environment, it’s easy to get caught in
the present and lose sight of the long-term needs of our associates and the
patients we serve.
Model the HR Leader
Competencies
These difficult times
provide a greater importance and need to model the HR leader competencies.
The five competencies described in our HR Leader Model are:
• Personal
Leadership. Now more than ever, the ability to inspire, influence, and
motivate the teams we work and associate with is crucial.
• HR Delivery.
We must provide cost-effective services.
• Community
Citizenship. Our communities rely on our services at a time when people
have the greatest needs.
• Healthcare
Business Knowledge. Our operating leaders look to their HR partners for
support and solutions to help solve critical business needs.
• People
Strategies. Finally, regardless of the economic climate, we must develop
strategies to attract, retain, and develop an engaged workforce.
As HR professionals,
we have a tremendous opportunity to shape our organizations for the future.
As a member of ASHHRA, we have
the opportunity to learn and grow together.
Learn from over 3,500
HR professionals
ASHHRA is here to help you with
solutions for your HR challenges, whether it’s a current challenge
you’re facing, or defining a long-term strategy. This month we
launched a special member network, our Online Community at
www.myashhra.org. This network is designed to help you connect with your
peers, set up special groups, and learn from each other by sharing best
practices and resources. You’ll have the opportunity to learn and get
real-time support from over 3,400 knowledgeable HR professionals.
Plan for the future
with new tools
In addition to
solving short-term challenges, leaders in your organization also look to
you to develop long-term strategies. We’re offering a free Webinar on
April 22 that will help you in planning for the future. ASHHRA will introduce the AARP Workforce
Assessment Tool that includes an individualized report to assist you in
assessing and planning for current and future workforce needs.
We continually look
for new ways to serve you in the most cost-effective manner. Your feedback
is important to us as we move forward in 2009. Again, the Board and I are
privileged to serve you on your leadership journey.
Best Regards,
Dan Zuhlke
Web Link
ASHHRA News
HealthPartners
and American Hospital Association Partner for National Launch of Joining
Forces
Legal
"Nonprofit
Hospitals Targeted on Leader Pay"
"The Hidden Perils of
Layoffs"
"Costco, Whole Foods
Offer Alternative to Union Bill"
Workforce
"The
Return of the RNs"
"The Engagement
Gap"
"Getting a Needed
Push"
Compensation
"CEO
Compensation Now Under the Microscope"
"Taking Stock of
Pay-for-Performance: A Candid Assessment From the Front Lines"
General HR
"The
Big Chill"
"The Rebirth of Labor
Relations"
Benefits
"Study
Shows Employee Benefits Cost Continues to Rise Sharply"
"Value-Based Plan
Designs Give Another Face to Consumerism"
"Employers Examine
Disease Management Programs"
"Special Workplace Benefits
Help Relieve Stress, Improve Bottom Line"
Physicians
"Financial
Implications of Moving to a Physician Employment Model"
"Med Schools
Multiplying "
"Can Portals
Deliver?"
Management and Leadership
"Raising the Bar for Boards"
HealthPartners and American Hospital
Association Partner for National Launch of Joining Forces
HealthPartners Institute for Medical Education and the American Hospital
Association (AHA) have partnered with more than a dozen national
organizations to launch an initiative designed to generate awareness among
medical professionals and others within communities about the challenges --
medical, social and emotional -- that veterans and their families face as
they return home from military service. Through the Joining Forces program
medical professionals will be provided much needed education on dealing with
the medical issues facing our nation’s troops as they return home
from service through a series of online programs.
"Our returning troops have unique medical challenges, which are
sometimes difficult to detect," said Dr. Carl Patow, executive
director of HealthPartners Institute for Medical Education. "This
series sheds light on those conditions so physicians can provide our
returning troops with the best possible care."
HealthPartners first partnered with Twin Cities Public Television, the
Minnesota Army National Guard and Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs
to create the series in 2007 after learning that many veterans were seeing
their hometown physicians instead of military doctors for treatment after
deployments. After sharing throughout Minnesota,
the groups involved decided to promote nationally in an effort to help
veterans throughout the U.S.
Since that time, the AHA and more than a dozen organizations have signed on
to help spread the word about the program and ensure our returning troops
receive proper care and treatment.
“What began as an effort to educate health caregivers in one
community in Minnesota
about the special needs of returning veterans and their families has grown
into a collaboration among national organizations involving hospitals,
doctors, nurses, social workers, clergy and many others all across our
nation. Like hospitals everywhere, HealthPartners saw a need in their
community and partnered with others to meet that need. And in the best
tradition of community service, they want to make what they did available
to every individual and organization that cares about serving the women and
men who have served our nation in the military. The American Hospital
Association is proud to help make that happen, “said Rich Umbdenstock,
President and Chief Executive Officer, the American Hospital Association.
“One look at the organizations that are coming together to spread the
word about Joining Forces tells an important story about the debt we owe
our troops and the enormous level of support they enjoy back home.”
The four-part series focuses on the most common issues our returning
soldiers face.
The program was based on the award-winning medical conference recognized by
the Alliance
for Continuing Medical Education with the 2008 Award for Outstanding
Collaboration.
Visit www.joiningforcesonline.org for more
information and resources.
Web Link | Return to Headlines
"Nonprofit Hospitals Targeted on Leader
Pay"
Boston Globe (03/04/09) Wangsness, Lisa
U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) is hoping to introduce legislation that
would make boards of nonprofit hospitals more accountable for executive
compensation. Grassley, the highest-ranking Republican on the Senate
Finance Committee, said March 3 that hospitals' boards of directors should
set higher performance standards for presidents in exchange for higher
salaries. Hospital CEOs earn about $500,000 annually on average, according
to a U.S. Internal Revenue Service survey of more than 480 hospitals.
Grassley could introduce legislation as a standalone bill or as part of a
healthcare reform package to ensure hospital boards justify high executive
salaries. Massachusetts Hospital Association CEO Lynn Nicholas defended the
process boards already use to determine executive compensation. Nicholas
says hospital executives face complex tasks and salaries need to reflect
those duties, remain competitive and reward talented leaders dealing with
government regulation, community concerns and hospital relationships.
Return to Headlines
"The Hidden Perils of Layoffs"
Business Week (03/02/09) P. 53; Thornton, Emily
As massive layoffs become more common, more workers have filed litigation
under the Worker Adjustment & Retraining Notification (WARN) Act in an
attempt to receive severance pay. At the same time, some states are taking
steps to better protect laid-off workers. For example, as of Feb. 1, New York employers
must notify workers within 90 days of layoff plans, which is longer than
the original notice period of 60 days. The new regulation also applies to
workplaces with 25 or more workers, rather than the original cutoff of 50
workers or more. However, even with these regulatory changes, employers
continue failing to provide workers with enough notice or severance pay as
stipulated by the WARN Act. Experts say this may be because most employers
are not aware that they need to comply with the act since it has been
enforced rarely in previous years. Additionally, the WARN Act exempts
employers from compliance if they are forced to make layoffs due to
"unforeseeable circumstances." Even if an employer cannot prove
they should be exempt from the act, there is no additional penalty for
noncompliance. Usually, employers are simply forced to provide employees
with 60 days of back pay, benefits and in some cases lawyers' fees.
Return to Headlines
"Costco, Whole Foods Offer Alternative to Union
Bill"
Bloomberg (03/22/09) Rosenkrantz, Holly
Costco Wholesale Corp., Starbucks Corp., and Whole Foods Market Inc. have
proposed an alternative to the Employee Free Choice Act, also known as
"card-check" legislation, which would permit employees to form a
union if a majority signed cards in favor of unionization. The alternative
measure would let management demand secret-ballot elections, remove a
binding arbitration provision from the proposed card-check legislation,
hike penalties for companies that prohibit collective bargaining or act
against workers prior to union elections, provide a fixed period for union
elections, and give unions the same access to workers as employers before a
vote. Lanny Davis, White House special counsel during the Clinton
Administration, has met with the staffs of approximately 24 senators from
both parties and says most expressed positive feelings about the
alternative measure. "We see our approach as a less polarized way to
reform current labor law and level the playing field," notes Davis.
"We will wait and see if other companies want to join us."
Meanwhile, U.S.
Sens. Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.), Mark Pryor (D-Ark.), and Mark Warner
(D-Va.) are uncertain whether they will back the card-check bill in its
current form, as critics believe the bill could lead to job losses and hurt
companies already suffering because of the recession.
Return to Headlines
"The Return of the RNs"
Hospitals & Health Networks (04/09) Thrall, Terese Hudson
Nurses nationwide are taking on extra hours and emerging from retirement to
assume new posts as the job market becomes harder to predict. Although the United States
still faces a significant and growing shortage of qualified nurses, some
cities have found retired nurses eager to return to work to ease those
burdens. For instance, at Arizona's Yuma Regional Medical
Center, nurse vacancy
rates improved to between 5 percent and 7 percent from vacancy rates
between 12 percent and 15 percent. This improvement allowed the hospital to
reduce its need for agency nurses by 6,000 hours, saving the facility
additional money since agency nurses command more per hour. It is unclear
how long hospitals can count on nurses returning to the job market.
Return to Headlines
"The Engagement Gap"
Successful Meetings (03/09) Vol. 58, No. 3, P. 20; McDonald, Tom
According to Towers Perrin's recent Global Workforce Study, which surveyed 90,000
workers in 118 countries, fewer than 60 percent of employees are partially
or fully engaged in their jobs, leaving a sizeable "engagement
gap" that employers must bridge to survive the recession. First,
managers should clearly make known to workers what is in it for them if
they succeed and excel. Employees want to know if their efforts generate a
higher salary, a reward, a stake in the business, more authority or some
other kind of benefit. A position of superiority is no longer enough to
drive workers, say experts. Managers and senior leaders must inspire and
motivate employees to keep them engaged. Employees in the United States
and other parts of the world say the primary driver for engagement is the
belief that an organization's leaders are truly looking out for the them.
However, only about 40 percent of the respondents felt this way about their
own employers, while more than 50 percent said their bosses treat them
"as just another part of the organization to be managed." The
biggest challenge for managers is learning how to get the most out of
workers' energy, drive and commitment. Increasing engagement by harnessing
these traits requires a different, more personal set of skills from
leaders. Experts say identifying the value of employees' abilities will
yield real, long-term results.
Return to Headlines
"Getting a Needed Push"
BusinessWest Online (03/30/09) O'Brien, George
Dan Boze said the transition from working as a janitor at Baystate Medical
Center in Springfield, Mass., to working overnight shifts as a patient-care
technician (PCT) was "a little weird," but nevertheless "a
dream come true." Boze, one of ten graduates of a local workforce
development program, is a fitting spokesperson for the type of programs that
help entry-level workers get additional training and eventually take jobs
in the healthcare sector. The Workforce Competitiveness Trust Fund sponsors
the local Springfield program, which
included seven participants from Baystate
Medical Center
and three participants from Mercy
Medical Center
in its first class. Dan Bates, a human resource specialist at Mercy, said
the next goal of the program is to enroll 45 outside candidates who are
unemployed or under-employed and train them to become PCTs or nursing assistants.
In giving individuals a leg up on the career ladder, where they can move on
to become laboratory technicians or physical therapists, the program is
creating employment opportunities and making healthcare resources more
available to the aging Baby Boomer population, says Bates.
Return to Headlines
"CEO Compensation Now Under the Microscope"
Trustee (04/09) Meyers, Susan
Hospitals must reconsider their executive compensation and benefit plans in
light of the current economic conditions, and boards must maintain a
balance between incentives and salary to retain talent. Boards must
determine the ratio of base salary and incentive salary in a compensation
package, with experts suggesting board members start from an acceptable and
reasonable total figure and parsing out a moderate salary to signal that
performance is a priority. Hospitals can use internal and external
benchmarks to determine a reasonable figure given what other facilities
offer and how those facilities' operations and strategies differ from their
own. Performance goals should have a minimum, middle and maximum tier with
corresponding payouts. For example, Northeast Georgia Health System's
performance incentives break down to 40 percent financial, 30 percent
strategic, 20 percent quality and safety and 10 percent service excellence
based upon employee, physician and patient satisfaction. Annual and
three-year incentive plans should be flexible.
Return to Headlines
"Taking Stock of Pay-for-Performance: A Candid
Assessment From the Front Lines"
Health Affairs (Quarter 2, 2009) Vol. 28, No. 2, P. 517; Damberg, Cherly
L.; Raube, Kristiana; Teleki, Stephanie S.
Pay-for-performance (P4P) has gained support over the past several years,
and researchers surveyed 35 physicians organizations, two purchasers and
seven health plans to determine the effectiveness of these programs. Of
those organizations surveyed, 25 responded that P4P had directly affected
organizational behavior by increasing accountability for quality. Twenty
organizations also said they thought P4P programs had affected the behavior
of individual physicians. Twenty-one physician organizations said in
response to P4P initiatives they hired additional staff to strengthen IT
capabilities and capture data. Seventeen organizations said they had
invested in self-reporting, and 23 responded that those investments had
affected their performance and payout. However, healthcare plans stated
that improvements were not significant enough under P4P plans to close
performance gaps, which researchers claim signals a need for program
changes to encourage physician engagement and spur fundamental physician
behavioral changes.
Return to Headlines
"The Big Chill"
HR Magazine (03/09) Vol. 54, No. 3, P. 28; Fox, Adrienne
To prevent layoffs, many companies are considering hiring freezes, with a
2008 Society for Human Resource Management poll finding that 48 percent of the
organizations surveyed used hiring freezes to reduce staffing costs and 18
percent were considering the strategy for 2009. HR professionals must
communicate with employees through email and personal meetings about hiring
freeze strategies and whether the strategy is related to the economy or
other factors. These methods enable employees to ask specific questions and
receive feedback from managers. HR managers should be prepared to make
exceptions to the hiring freeze if organizations have an opportunity to
hire direct-revenue producers or to fill difficult positions and positions
in which there are serious talent shortages. Recruitment efforts should not
stop simply because a hiring freeze is in effect, but managers must be
honest with recruits about the hiring freeze.
Return to Headlines
"The Rebirth of Labor Relations"
HR Magazine (02/09) Vol. 54, No. 2, P. 57; Krell, Eric
The ability to negotiate an agreement with union officials is one of HR's
strongest assets, but industry experts fear today's HR personnel lack the
labor relations skills necessary to curb union growth and keep union
leaders happy. Organizational leaders with extensive union experience agree
with Sports Authority HR Manager Bernard Ruesgen's assessment that the idea
of labor relations within HR is "mostly theoretical and limited to the
practice of union avoidance." He notes HR facilitators in union
discussions must have the ability to analyze and comprehend written
agreements and supply management with informed advice on relevant labor
issues. The value of labor expertise will increase if the Employee Free
Choice Act, an amendment to the National Labor Relations Act that validates
card signing as an acceptable means of forming a union, is passed into law.
"When economic times are tough and people don't think their employers
are taking care of them, they reach out to a third party for help,"
explains Director Andrea Terrillion of the Cornell University Industrial
and Labor Relations School.
Return to Headlines
"Study Shows Employee Benefits Cost Continues to
Rise Sharply"
Collision Week (03/31/09)
According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce 2008 Employee Benefits Study, employers
have seen a dramatic rise in the cost of employee benefits between 2006 and
2007. The study observed a 15 percent increase in the cost of providing
employee health insurance, which averaged $4,559 per employee in 2007, up
from $3,961 per employee in 2006. The cost of retirement and savings
benefits rose 14 percent, from $2,356 per employee in 2006 to $2,694 per
employee in 2007. The study also showed employers cutting benefits as the
economy weakened in 2007, with the average dollar amount employees received
in benefits decreasing from $21,527 in 2006 to $18,496 in 2007.
Return to Headlines
"Value-Based Plan Designs Give Another Face to
Consumerism"
Risk & Insurance (03/09) Vol. 20, No. 2, P. 15; Cosenza, Don
Consumer-driven healthcare plans have risen in popularity in recent years
as more organizations look to improve preventive care and reduce medical
costs for their employees. To this end, United Healthcare has developed a
number of value-based programs that provide workers with incentives for
adhering to certain health goals. One such program is Simply Engaged, which
screens employees for health risk factors such as body mass index and
cholesterol levels. Patients are then rewarded for complying with any
physician orders or taking prescribed medications to treat and prevent
serious health problems. Rewards include waived co-pays on medications for
chronic conditions and 100 percent benefits coverage, particularly for
preventive care. Patients also receive coaching through Internet-based or
telephone sessions, which is dependent upon their health-risk level.
United's Diabetes Health Plan aims to specifically reduce risk factors for
pre-diabetes and diabetes patients. Patients who comply with metrics are
offered certain medical services, medications and supplies at zero cost.
Return to Headlines
"Employers Examine Disease Management
Programs"
Cincinnati Business Courier (03/27/09) Lee, Mara
Disease management programs have gained popularity among HR managers who
spend more money year-over-year on health coverage for employees and their
families. Disease management plans emphasize disease prevention and
management by encouraging employees to lose weight, stop smoking and go in
regularly for checkups. Marriott International Inc. already has seen cost
savings with its program. The company implemented a disease management
program for its 71,000 workers and 90,000 of their family members in 2006
to curb health insurance costs, which rose 7 percent annually. The majority
of workers are encouraged to adopt healthy lifestyle practices, while the 8
percent of the workforce with diabetes and other chronic diseases receive
specialized attention from Active Health Management. Supporters of these
programs believe preventive practices are a risk-free way of keeping
workers healthy and productive.
Return to Headlines
"Special Workplace Benefits Help Relieve Stress,
Improve Bottom Line"
PhysOrg.com (02/02/09)
Business professors at the University of Michigan are urging organizations
to offer a variety of complementary alternative benefits to help reduce
stress and improve camaraderie among their employees, which in turn can
reduce the potential for workplace violence. Among the benefits that
companies can offer employees to reduce stress are flexible work hours,
telecommuting, employer-paid healthcare premiums and discounted tickets to
social activities such as movies and sporting events. In addition to
reducing employee stress, these and other complementary alternative
benefits can have a positive impact on an organization's bottom line.
According to Cindy Schipani and Norm Bishara, professors of business law at
the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business, companies on the
Forbes list that offered generous complementary alternative benefits had
employee turnover rates that were significantly lower than the industry
average. In addition, these firms collectively saved an average of roughly
$275 million in 2007, Schipani and Bishara noted. They added that
complementary alternative benefits also can help to increase worker
productivity and reduce employee healthcare costs.
Return to Headlines
"Financial Implications of Moving to a Physician
Employment Model"
Healthcare Financial Management (04/09) Kennedy, Dennis
Hospitals and health systems increasingly are adding physicians to their
payrolls, but there have not been many studies to determine whether the
physician employment model boosts profitability over the long term. Experts
say the physician employment model makes most sense when healthcare reforms
depend upon physician-hospital integration, and the model could bolster
efficiency, care coordination and care quality. To gauge the financial
implications of the physician employment model, hospitals need to look at
what costs would stay the same and what costs would be added, such as
physician salaries and benefits, malpractice premiums and operating costs
of the practice. Hospitals also must take into consideration alignment of
hospital and physician economic interests, access and competitive
positioning. However, the physician employment model will boost the
hospital's overall cost base, and this risk must be given careful examination.
Return to Headlines
"Med Schools Multiplying "
Crain's Detroit Business (03/15/09) Vol. 25, No. 10, P. 1; Beene, Ryan
Michigan universities are expanding their medical school programs to stave
off the predicted 6,000-physician deficit that the state will experience by
2020. The leading schools in the initiative are Michigan State University,
Western Michigan University, Central Michigan University and Oakland
University. However, some medical education observers note that merely
increasing the state's medical student body will not translate into more
practicing physicians, and it will only serve to further burden a
cash-strapped education system. Michigan State Medical Society warned that
prior to any medical school expansions, a study should be performed to
figure out how to best coordinate a concentrated effort to solve the
physician crisis. Critics of the universities' plans, like Jay Noren,
president of Wayne State University, and Dr. Jordan Cohen, an academic
medical center consultant with LECG LLC, note that despite generous
government subsidies, private philanthropy and the prestige boost a
university receives from having a medical school, building extra schools is
an extremely risky endeavor from a business perspective. According to
Marsha Rappley, Dean of MSU's College of Human Medicine, the number of
graduating medical school students entering into residency is capped by the
government and by Medicare, which would leave hospitals to pay for any
residencies that exceed the cap. Rappley suggests the only way to solve the
dilemma is by increasing both the number of graduating students and the
number of residency training positions.
Return to Headlines
"Can Portals Deliver?"
Advance for Health Information Executives (03/09) Vol. 13, No. 3, P. 10;
Massengill, Stephanie
Electronic medical record adoption spurred the creation and implementation
of portals through which physicians could obtain patient information, test
results and other data, but physicians and hospital administrators alike
found a number of problems with those portals, making them inefficient.
Although some of those problems have been addressed, such as reducing
multiple logins to a single sign-on for all applications and context
management tools, hospital administrators note physicians do not want nor
have time to log onto a multitude of sites to garner the latest patient
information and are looking for a solution that will automatically deliver
data in a manageable format. Hospitals that deliver data to affiliated or
employed physicians via push technology garner greater loyalty and
marketing value than they would from a portal, say experts.
Return to Headlines
Management and Leadership
"Raising the Bar for Boards"
Modern Healthcare (03/02/09) Vol. 39, No. 9, P. 6; Evans, Melanie
Expectations concerning hospital board governance and operation have been
heightened by the escalation of healthcare costs, an aging population and
the availability of healthcare quality information. Hospital trustees are
under increasing pressure to hold hospital executives accountable for
healthcare quality and patient safety improvements. Nonprofit hospital
boards will be under greater scrutiny with regard to how members are
recruited and how they perform. According to the American Hospital
Association's Center for Healthcare Governance, among the 14 areas in which
effective board members must be competent are accountability, change
leadership, information seeking, innovative thinking, organizational
awareness and strategic orientation. A number of state hospital
associations are working on or have passed certification requirements for
hospital board members, including those in Georgia, Minnesota, Tennessee
and New Jersey.
Return to Headlines
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2009 INFORMATION, INC.
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