ASHHRA eNews Pulse

Dear ASHHRA,

Did you know that ASHHRA is 48 years old? That’s right! In two years we are going to be 50. This is a pretty big legacy and big shoes to fill for those of us serving on committees and on the board. Thus, over the year keeping up with changes in the health care environment is very important to our members and to our society.

We’ve all heard about a shift from hospital care to community health initiatives, mobile vans and screening and education fairs. All of our organizations are talking about meeting the needs of our acute care patients, while expanding our services to care for people in their home and community, while promoting lifetime wellness. What does that mean for ASHHRA? Who is going to help Lead People Through Change, our theme for this year’s conference? The answer for ASHHRA is your board and more specifically, the Committee for Non-Hospital Health Care Organizations. John Ostrom and Marit Brock are the two exceptional leaders that chair this committee. They serve two roles within ASHHRA. First, they work year round to offer services to our members who are not in acute care/hospital settings. Second, they have a vision of the future that is clearer for them than it is for some of us today.

In last month’s article I spoke about ASHHRA being the first choice for health care HR knowledge, a trusted and dependable source. I also wrote about linking a diverse and expansive health care community and being the leader in health care HR best practices. Marit and John serve all these roles. They are already working with clinics, outpatient centers, outpatient laboratories, and other settings that provide health care in the home and in the community whose focus is lifetime health and wellness. How do you handle scheduling, benefits, pay, and human resource policies for employees that are not physically on your campus 24/7? Or, who are on your campus but serve both the organization and your employed physicians? Are the relationships different? What about benefits or pay structures? What are best practices in this new health care environment? Our Committee for Non-Hospital Health Care Organizations cares about these questions and Leads People Through Change by serving the needs of our current non-hospital members and by providing resources to our hospital members that are trying to learn about these new environments.

Come and learn from John and Marit, meet them at the ASHHRA 48th Annual Conference in Denver, Colorado, September 22-25. If you are in non-hospital health care, we have some great educational programs planned for you. If you are in hospital health care, come and join your non-hospital counterparts. Together we can all Lead People Through Change.

Irma L. Pye, SPHR
ASHHRA 2012 President
Senior Vice President & CHRO
Valley Baptist Health System
Harlingen, Texas

 

The Justification Toolkit was developed to assist you in attending the ASHHRA annual conference in Denver, Colorado this September. There are also opportunities for financial assistance from our generous partners. Visit the "Tools" page of the annual conference website for more.

Visit http://www.ashhra.org/conference/2012/tools.shtml to view the full article online.

 

The deadline for the MetLife Conference Scholarship is Friday, May 11. Nine (9) scholarships are available – one for each region. Those selected will each receive $1,500 to attend the ASHHRA 48th Annual Conference & Exposition. Be sure to take advantage of this great opportunity!

Visit http://www.ashhra.org/conference/2012/tools.shtml#metlife_scholarship to view the full article online.

 

A pre-recorded webinar about two National Labor Relations Board final rules is now available to AHA / ASHHRA members only. The webinar focuses primarily on the final rules requirements and recent legal developments potentially affecting them. The webinar is available on the AHA website in the Working with Employees issue section. The AHA will keep hospitals informed about such developments. Be sure to check the website frequently in the coming days.

Visit http://sso.aha.org/opensso/cdcservlet?goto=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aha.org%3A80%2Fhospital-members%2Fadvocacy-issues%2Femployeerelations%2Fresources.shtml&RequestID=1803870618&MajorVersion=1&MinorVersion=0&ProviderID=http%3A%2F%2Fs259722ch3vl48.uschcg6.savvis.ne to view the full article online.

 

By John Commins

The healthcare sector created 19,000 jobs in April—accounting for nearly one in six of the 115,000 new jobs in the larger economy for the month, new federal data shows.

SOURCE: HEALTHLEADERS MEDIA

Visit http://www.healthleadersmedia.com/content/HR-279764/Healthcare-Job-Growth-Slows-in-April to view the full article online.

 

By Patrick Gallagher

At White Plains Hospital, surgeons have already performed as many thoracic, or chest, procedures this year as they did in all of 2011. For an explanation, one need look no further than thoracic surgeons Todd Weiser and Cynthia Chin, who left Mount Sinai Medical Center in January to join the White Plains Hospital Physician Associates. "We were recruited by the administration to build a thoracic surgical program here," said Weiser, director of thoracic surgery at the hospital. "One of the factors in me coming here was to build a program that rivals what we’ve done in New York City."

SOURCE: FAIRFIELD COUNTY BUSINESS JOURNAL

Visit http://westfaironline.com/21760/physician-sign-on-at-white-plains-hospital/ to view the full article online.

 

By Bob Herman

Physician compensation plans for hospital-employed physicians are always centered around "reasonableness" and fair market value, but there are some common practices hospitals can use to build up to those decisions, according to an article from Integrated Healthcare Strategies.

SOURCE: BECKER’S HOSPITAL REVIEW

Visit http://www.beckershospitalreview.com/compensation-issues/3-common-practices-for-hospital-employed-physician-compensation-plans.html to view the full article online.

 

By Lee Ann Jarousse

You can't do today's job with yesterday's methods and still be in business tomorrow." The old truism sums up the challenge for the hospital field as it prepares for a dramatic change in the care delivery system. The shift to bundled payments and value-based care will require health care organizations to think outside the box to develop new business lines and ways of providing care.

SOURCE: HOSPITALS & HEALTH NETWORKS

Visit http://www.hhnmag.com/hhnmag_app/jsp/articledisplay.jsp?dcrpath=HHNMAG/Article/data/04APR2012/0412HHN_FEA_innovationGate&domain=HHNMAG to view the full article online.

 

By Carrie Vaughan

1. Develop a social media policy. This is true for all institutions no matter their size—even a small mom-and-pop clinical ­practice with one provider needs to have a social media policy. Remember, your employees will be on social media, and unless you have policy for behavior, you can't define how they are going to engage, says Mayo Clinic's Farris K. Timimi, MD.

SOURCE: HEALTHLEADERS MEDIA

Visit http://www.healthleadersmedia.com/content/PHY-279637/8-Social-Media-Tips-for-Physicians to view the full article online.

 

By Karen M. Cheung

Surgeons who are sleep deprived can perform tasks they've already been trained in, but their brains have to work harder to problem solve during unexpected events, compared to their well-rested counterparts, according to a study published in the American Journal of Surgery.

SOURCE: FIERCE HEALTHCARE

Visit http://www.fiercehealthcare.com/story/sleepy-surgeons-cant-handle-surprises/2012-05-04 to view the full article online.

 

By Karen M. Cheung

Hospitals are bracing themselves for some significant reimbursement changes under health reform that could hit their pocketbooks. The American Hospital Association (AHA) outlined top issues in its 2012 advocacy papers, including how hospitals will be measured for performance this year and beyond.

SOURCE: FIERCE HEALTHCARE

Visit http://www.fiercehealthcare.com/story/3-reimbursement-changes-hospital-performance/2012-05-02 to view the full article online.

 

By John Commins

There was a time when being "medical director" in some physician practices was an empty title. "We never had a medical director before and the groups that did, I'm not sure they did a whole lot. They worried about the schedule and helped with interviews," says Jeffrey W. Smith, CEO of Pottstown (PA) Medical Specialists Inc., a 45-physician multispecialty practice. "Now it is important."

SOURCE: HEALTHLEADERS MEDIA

Visit http://www.healthleadersmedia.com/content/HR-279771/Medical-Directors-New-Role-Includes-Quality-Monitor to view the full article online.

 

By Haydn Bush

Hospital executives face unprecedented pressures. Some are opting to end their careers, but many others are pumped up and eager to lead their organizations into a new era.

SOURCE: HOSPITALS & HEALTH NETWORKS

Visit http://www.hhnmag.com/hhnmag_app/jsp/articledisplay.jsp?dcrpath=HHNMAG/Article/data/04APR2012/0412HHN_Coverstory&domain=HHNMAG to view the full article online.