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.
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"Union Agenda Gets Increased Attention in
Changed Political Climate"
Hospitals & Health Networks (04/09) Bush, Haydn
Emboldened by victories in the presidential and Congressional elections,
Democratic legislators are pushing harder to expand and enact new laws that
benefit workers and labor unions. Democratic lawmakers in both houses of
Congress reintroduced the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) this past March,
which recognizes a union if at least 50 percent of a company's workers sign
a union ballot. Currently, unions are recognized only if an office holds a
secret ballot and 30 percent of employees notarize the union cards. The
bill, first introduced two years ago, also constrains employees and
employers to legal arbitration if a favorable work agreement cannot be
reached within 120 days and enacts stricter penalties for employers who
breach certain areas of the National Labor Relations Act. Officials from
the American Hospital Association, which does not support the bill, say
increased Democratic representation in Congress does not necessarily
guarantee the passage of EFCA in the Senate. Carla Luggiero, AHA's senior
director of federal relations, says one reason the bill has received less
Senate and House sponsorship this time around than it did in 2007 is
because economically-minded legislators are thinking twice about the
financial implications of the bill. Critics cite the arbitration clause,
not the card check portion, as the most contentious language in the
legislation.
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"'Questionable' Claims on the Rise: NICB"
Business Insurance (04/28/09) Casale, Jeff
A National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) report reveals a rise in
"opportunistic fraud" among insurance claims. For instance, the
number of slip-and-fall claims under commercial insurance policies rose 77
percent in the first quarter of 2009 compared with the number of claims
filed during the same period the previous year. The number of suspected
workers' compensation claims, according to the report, rose 71 percent this
year. Fire and arson commercial claims increased 76 percent in 2009 over
2008, but cargo theft and vehicle theft fell 20 percent and 23 percent,
respectively. With unemployment levels on the rise and the economy in the
dumps, some see fraud as a way to earn additional money, according to NICB
officials.
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"Importing Care"
Modern Healthcare (03/23/09) Vol. 39, No. 12, P. 8; Carlson, Joe
The nation's nurse shortage is a pressing issue that needs a solution.
However, leaders do not agree on how to best solve the problem whether
through importing nurses or improving current training programs. There are
currently at least two bills pending in Congress designed to support one of
these solutions, and at least one more expected to be proposed in the next
several weeks. President Barack Obama has said recently that he does not
support providing visas to overseas nurses when there are so many U.S.
citizens currently in need of work. The U.S. State Department has increased
the wait time for visas that include nurses from four years to six years.
However, while many in the healthcare industry agree that domestic training
programs for new nurses must be improved, they say these programs will take
time and do not present a short-term solution to the country's rising need
for nurses. Therefore, several legislators have introduced bills that would
support increasing the number of visas for nurses.
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"Conducting a Internal Search"
Trustee (03/09) Vol. 62, No. 3, P. 26; Plemmons, Patrick
Organizations that value human capital also have boards that maintain the
expertise necessary to address and understand talent issues the firm faces.
recruiting executives should be a top concern for hospital boards, and
rather than rely upon external recruiting resources, hospital boards should
conduct internal talent searches. Internal searches will not only save
hospitals money, but also enhance staff recruitment and leadership
development. M.D. Anderson Cancer Center Senior Vice President for Business
Development and Regulatory Affairs Dan Fontaine says internal search
experts have the expertise necessary to convey the organization's mission
and critical information to internal and external talent, including
information about the core values and opportunities an organization offers.
Hospitals must examine their probably turnover rates for the next five
years, perform internal talent searches if it will save the organization 33
percent or more, and use the savings to hire skilled recruiting executives
or teams to conduct external searches, says Fontaine. University of Southern
California's Marshall School of Business
professor and Center for Effective Organizations Director Edward E. Lawler
III explains, "Board members should receive regular information about
the condition of an organization’s talent and the way it develops and
deploys that talent. Among other things, this should include information
about people's attitudes and skill development levels; assessments of the
availability of backup talent for key positions; and evaluations of the
organization's ability to attract, retain and develop new talent."
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"The Hardest Cuts of All"
Hospitals & Health Networks (03/09) Vol. 83, No. 3, P. 41; Bush,
Haydn
While avoiding layoffs may be impossible for most healthcare systems,
industry consultants say hospitals should keep long-term survival in mind
when making workforce reductions. Organizations that have not yet downsized
will likely lay off employees later on in the year as the economic impact of
the recession becomes more apparent, predicts Kenneth Kaufman, a partner at
the firm Kaufman, Hall & Associates. A system usually resorts to hiring
freezes first, but if employees must be laid off, information technology
departments are usually the first to get hit, says Susanna Krentz of the Noblis Center for Health Innovation. Other
analysts say hospitals can reduce their budgets by redeploying employees to
areas where they have a greater impact on patient care. Redeployments can
generate enough productivity to stave off layoffs or eliminate the
possibility. Meanwhile, Kaufman believes hospitals also will suspend
long-term growth plans until they can gauge the Obama Administration's
influence on insurance and coverage policies. Putting the brakes on all
marketing and development ventures ultimately hurts the hospital,
especially if competitors are not doing the same, Krentz says. In addition,
the organization will be in a hole or will have to start from scratch once
it returns to a place of financial health.
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"Recession Fuels Worries of U.S. Workplace
Violence"
Reuters (UK) (04/22/09)
Employees have become increasingly worried about workplace violence, their fears
driven by job losses, job uncertainty, and news stories of violent events
in other organizations. Workplace violence, experts say, can range from
harassment to homicides. Laurence Miller, author of "From Difficult to
Disturbed: Understanding and Managing Dysfunctional Employees," said
that violent employees are usually people who have been problematic in the
past. He added that they usually reveal their intentions to commit violent
acts beforehand. From 1997 to 2007, there were more than 7,000 occupational
homicides nationwide, and over 1,000 of them involved work associates,
according to the most recent available data available from the U.S. Bureau
of Labor Statistics. Although it remains unclear whether the current
recession has resulted in an increase in violence, employees' fears about
workplace shootings and other types of incidents are warranted, said Joel
Shults, head of public safety at Adams State College in Alamosa, Colorado.
However, he noted that this heightened level fear and pressure in the work
environment can actually increase the likelihood of someone
"snapping" and going on a violent rampage.
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"Aging Your Work Force"
Wall Street Journal (04/09/09) Joerres, Jeffrey
Companies and organizations across the globe must prepare for the workforce
gaps that are yet to come. However, a Manpower survey of 28,000 employers
in more than 25 nations reveals that only 14 percent of respondents have
strategies in place to recruit older workers and 21 percent have strategies
in place to retain older workers. In some instances, employers are viewing
the impending explosion of retired workers as a way to save money. With the
current state of the economy, it is erroneous for employers to think that
older workers will retire as soon as they hit a certain age; many of these
workers are willing to continue with their jobs beyond retirement age. To
retain older workers, employers must simply keep them engaged as part of
the team and offer them various employment opportunities. Modified working
arrangements are more likely to help organizations to retain older workers
than higher pay. Offering workers a life-work balance arrangement,
part-time hours, and opportunities to mentor the next generation are just
some of the changes older workers are seeking. Retaining organizational
knowledge can be done through formal mentoring programs, online information
sharing forums, and pools of older workers available for consultation on a
variety of projects. Experts agree employers will have to change their
current talent management strategies to compete in the new marketplace.
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"AHIP: Health Plan Payment Models Improving
Patient Quality, Safety"
Insurance & Financial Advisor (05/04/09) Ignagni, Karen
According to a recent report from America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP),
"Innovations in Recognizing and Rewarding Quality," health
insurance plans have adopted innovative payment models that reward quality
and spur healthcare improvement across the nation. In 2006, a New England
Journal of Medicine report revealed that about 80 percent of healthcare
insurance plan enrollees belong to plans that offer pay-for-performance
incentives to physicians and hospitals based upon clinical quality, patient
satisfaction, service utilization and other factors. The AHIP report
indicates that these programs have resulted in emergency room visit
declines and increases in generic prescription rates, technology adoption,
and patients actively seeking appropriate treatment after hospitalization.
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"Eye of the Beholder"
Modern Healthcare (04/27/09) Vol. 39, No. 17, P. 6; Rhea, Shawn;
DerGurahian, Jean
Productivity or the numbers of services rendered per dollars spent is
measured differently by aspects of the healthcare field, particularly by
those seeking reform and those who believe the system cannot be modified to
take on higher volumes. Figures from the American Hospital Association,
which noted an 18.9 percent increase in full-time hospital staff between
1997 and 2007 but only an 11.9 percent increase in admissions staff,
suggest that hospitals are employing too many people. During the same time
period, however, outpatient care services increased by more than 30
percent. Because "the nature of the product continues to change,"
according to AHA trends analyst Caroline Steinberg, the methods for
measuring productivity change as well. In a lab, high productivity is
equivalent to the high automation of processes such as administering tests,
while on the hospital floor, productivity means spending more time with
patients.
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"Revisiting the Job Description"
Bermudian Business (05/01/09) P. 22; Jones, Mike
Maintaining an accurate job description is one of the easiest things an
employer can do to ensure the right candidate applies for and remains on
the job. When writing these descriptions, be sure to stay away from
adjectives, long prose, and ambiguous words like "ensure,"
"liaise," and "handle," as these terms require further
definition and measurement. The description should be no longer than
necessary, directly detailing the responsibilities and tasks of that
position. Keep in mind that the length of a job description is unrelated to
the size or scope of the job. Writers should begin each sentence with a
verb; avoid gerunds; name essential duties only; define the inputs,
outputs, and processes of the job; be lucid and avoid jargon; and explain
duties in a logical sequence. Once the primary responsibilities are
outlined, candidates will know immediately if they have the skills and
experience to excel in the position.
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"Expert: Avoid Comp Claims With Workplace That
Fits Older Staff"
National Underwriter (Property & Casualty - Risk & Benefits
Management Edition) (04/08/09) Gusman, Phil
To accommodate the population of aging baby boomers, employers should
renovate work spaces, create wellness programs, and modify job
responsibilities to help older workers avoid injuries, thereby decreasing
claims, says Glenn Pransky of the Liberty Mutual Research Institute. During
a recent online broadcast, Pransky, who directs the institute's Center for
Disability Research, defined the typical "older worker" as
someone 55 or older, though this could be as young as 40 for someone
involved in manual labor. The expert said the percentage of workers over 55
who are still working--35 percent--will increase to more than 45 percent by
2016. Results of aging vary for each individual, but usually include
changes in vision and hearing, higher blood pressure, and diminished
strength and flexibility. Citing Bureau of Labor statistics, Pransky
pointed out that the annual injury rate for older workers is half that of
younger workers because older workers are safer and more risk-averse. Of
the three categories of older workers--healthy survivors, retirees changing
careers, and workers who are trapped because of financial reasons--Pransky
said individuals in the latter group tend to have less education and more
chronic health problems. The expert recommended that employers create a
wellness program that addresses the diet and exercise needs of older
employees.
Return to Headlines
"Worker Confidence in Retirement Hits New Low:
EBRI"
Business Insurance (04/14/09)
According to the latest Employee Benefit Research Institute survey, only 13
percent of workers believe they will have enough money saved for
retirement. The decline in confidence among workers can be attributed to
the economic downturn, increases in healthcare costs, declines in
retirement savings, and hikes in day-to-day expenses. About 25 percent of
workers say they will have only enough money to cover basic expenses.
Moreover, the survey reveals that a majority of workers are poor planners
when it comes to retirement, with most only guessing how much they will
need to be comfortable in their old age. Only 44 percent calculate how much
they specifically will need when they retire. More than 80 percent of
workers who are less confident have reduced expenses, 43 percent have
changed their investments, and 38 percent have taken on a second job or
increased the hours they work. Retired workers who feel very confident
about their financial security fell to just 20 percent, according to the
survey.
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"Hospital-Physician Alignment"
Trustee (04/09) Vol. 62, No. 4, P. 19; Sandrick, Karen
As Medicare reimbursements decline and overhead costs increase for
physician practices, the "cordial but distant" relationship
between these practices and hospitals is changing, especially when physicians
begin making technological investments and add on ancillary services to
their practices to improve revenue streams. By providing MRI, CT scans and
other services in-house, physicians have made themselves viable partners
for hospitals. Some of these arrangements pay for call duty for
neurosurgery or general surgery, while others compensate doctors for
directorship roles or IT support, ranging from gainsharing to management
service organizations. Trustees not only have to become educated about their
hospital's specific physician alignment, but they also need to become
familiar with the legal framework that governs the structure to ensure the
arrangement does not run afoul of Start Law, an antikickback measure.
Moreover, trustees and boards will want to engage physicians in the
strategic planning process.
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Management and Leadership
"Board Engagement in Risk Oversight"
Trustee (05/09) Hessler, Frederick A.
Hospitals have a tough road ahead in the current economic climate as access
to capital dwindles, which is why it is important for hospital boards to be
engaged in financial risk and governance oversight. Hospitals need capital
to meet quality and patient satisfaction improvement goals, since many strategies
involve new technology adoption and the use of evidence-based designs.
Boards must utilize those with financial market and debt instrument
expertise. According to a recent Health Research & Educational
Trust/Center for Healthcare Governance survey, board members and CEOs are
urged to pay close attention to the amount of debt outstanding and the debt
service coverage ratio for their organizations because it can affect the
strength of the balance sheet and the predictability of operating cash
flow. A comprehensive strategy that engages asset and liability management
can help board members and CEOs monitor the interplay of risks in their
investment portfolios and debts outstanding.
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"10 Ways to Inspire Employee Trust"
Washington SmartCEO (03/09) Vol. 3, No. 3, P. 10; Wexley, Kenneth N.;
Strouse, Douglas A.
When employees trust their bosses, HR experts say they are more productive
and less likely to leave their jobs. Experts note that leaders must first
earn the trust of employees if they expect workers to trust them. Leaders
must be the first to share what they believe in, what they want, and what
they hope to achieve. Leaders must be well-informed, thoughtful decision
makers to inspire confidence among workers, though making mistakes is
allowed and should be acknowledged by leaders to display their own
humanity. Leaders should cultivate a comfortable environment in which
workers can share ideas and suggestions. However, once employee trust is
gained, leaders should only make promises they can keep and ensure that
employees' best interests are taken into account.
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