Dear Colleagues,

As we wrap up 2018, I would like to say thank you for allowing me to serve as your President, and I look forward to serving as your Immediate Past President in 2019. The board and ASHHRA staff accomplished a good number of initiatives this year.

The Certified in Health Care Human Resources (CHHR) professional designation shows employers — and the health care field at large — that an individual not only knows HR but knows HR in health care. The application for the last CHHR exam scholarship is now open until Friday Dec. 21, 2018. ASHHRA members who apply for the scholarship will be considered to receive a voucher for the full CHHR exam fee (a $295 value).

Those with innovative health care HR ideas are encouraged to submit them as abstracts for the ASHHRA 55th Annual Conference & Exposition in Chicago. ASHHRA welcomes transformative ideas to share with human resources professionals in the health care field. Submissions are being accepted and reviewed on a rolling basis. Start the process today!

AHA News
The AHA recently released “Youth Violence Prevention: Working Together to Keep Communities Safe,” a compendium of inspiring stories about hospitals and health systems collaborating to curb and prevent violence in their communities. The compendium highlights initiatives in seven communities across the U.S. that are addressing safety challenges and making a significant positive impact.

AHA News
In an AHA video released for National Influenza Vaccination Week, AHA Chair Nancy Howell Agee, president and CEO of Carilion Clinic, debunks some common flu shot misconceptions. 

AHA News
The AHA’s American Society for Health Care Engineering (ASHE) today announced a certification program to help workers in facility management and construction understand the complexities of the health care physical environment, and hospitals reduce risks associated with construction. 

HR Dive
Full-time employees most desire fair pay, according to a new Clutch survey of 540 employees. In "What Do Employees Value Most in Their Job?", 55 percent of respondents ranked fair compensation as the first or second most valuable employer attribute, closely followed by fair treatment (54 percent). Ethical standards ranked third.

Health Affairs
The United States will experience significant growth of the population older than age 65 in the coming decades, which will contribute to an increase in the number of people living with chronic and serious illnesses in the community. Field experts, policy makers and health care leaders have identified the lack of an adequately prepared workforce as a critical barrier to delivering high-quality, community-based care for this population.   

Healthcare Finance
Employment in the health care industry is expected to grow about 18 percent over the next eight years; foreign-born workers likely to fill gap.

Workforce
Many organizations want to get involved with charity this season. While doing any good deed is better than doing nothing at all, leaders can do certain things to get the most impact out of their efforts.

A recent study out of the U.K. has great takeaways for HR pros across the globe on the use and effectiveness of performance management (PM) systems. Their research showed that, where PM systems are absent or poorly designed, organizations are losing valuable insight that can help workers contribute more to long-term growth.

Healthcare Dive
Physician burnout has long been tied to increasing administrative burdens, including use of EHRs. A new study in the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association lends further weight to back up those claims.

NPR

Healthcare Finance
About two-thirds of millennials in revenue cycle jobs are satisfied with their roles, though many said they'd consider other career opportunities.