ASHHRA eNews Pulse

A new guide from the AHA Workforce Center offers strategies to help hospitals and health systems expand the behavioral health capabilities of their workforce. Building on an AHA white paper in June on how hospitals and health systems are bridging the gap between the need for behavioral health care in their communities and a shortage of trained specialists, the new guide offers tools and suggestions for overcoming common challenges organizations face in assessing, educating and partnering with others to strengthen their behavioral health workforce.

Visit http://www.aha.org/content/16/16oct-behavworkforce.pdf to view the full article online.

The Health Resources and Services Administration’s proposed rule that would establish an administrative dispute resolution process for the 340B Drug Pricing Program "is an important first step for 340B hospitals and clinics that have been overcharged for drugs purchased through the program," but there are several areas in which the rule could be amended, AHA said.

Visit http://news.aha.org/article/161011-aha-calls-proposed-rule-on-340b-dispute-resolution-process-an-important-first-step to view the full article online.

Jay Bhatt, D.O., is excited about leading the AHA’s quality agenda at "an extraordinary time in American health care." He notes that at a time where health care is changing so rapidly, "the one thing that remains constant is the relationship clinicians have with their patients, and we need to amplify that as a key lever in improving health."

Visit http://news.aha.org/article/160922-ahas-new-quality-leader-seeks-to-raise-fields-quality-and-safety-bar- to view the full article online.

Employees are finding it increasingly difficult to take time off from work for preventative care appointments. In response to the problem, some employers are adding an extra day of PTO to give workers adequate time to manage their health.

Visit http://www.benefitnews.com/news/employers-adding-unsick-day-for-employees to view the full article online.

Benefit managers love the idea of transparency in health care programs — comparing the price of MRIs from one facility to the other, for example — but getting employees to use the data in their health care decisions remains a challenge.

Visit http://www.benefitnews.com/news/employees-slow-to-adopt-healthcare-transparency-tools to view the full article online.

Should you show appreciation to someone who isn’t performing well? Tension exists in the world of recognition, employee engagement and appreciation. There are differences of opinion on the relationship between an employee’s performance and when, or how, you recognize them. Should you recognize an employee if they aren’t doing well in all areas of performance?

Visit http://switchandshift.com/employee-appreciation-performance-based to view the full article online.

Quality rankings for hospitals have come under scrutiny before, as critics argue their inconsistencies confuse consumers. But new research suggests many such rankings are based on flawed data.

Visit http://www.fiercehealthcare.com/healthcare/hospital-ratings-may-rely-bad-data to view the full article online.

More than 40 top health care CEOs met recently with their peers to share leadership insights and strategy tips. A host of CEOs and a few other senior health care leaders gathered together last month in Hot Springs, VA, for the invitation-only 2016 HealthLeaders Media CEO Exchange.

Visit http://www.healthleadersmedia.com/leadership/8-takeaways-2016-healthleaders-media-ceo-exchange to view the full article online.

As the health care industry shifts toward patient-centered models, providers will need to fully understand patient satisfaction measures and how they affect their practices.

Visit http://patientengagementhit.com/features/patient-satisfaction-and-hcahps-what-it-means-for-providers to view the full article online.

Patient satisfaction continues to be a top priority for hospital executives, and one hospital hopes the technology can give it an even greater edge.

Visit http://www.fiercehealthcare.com/it/thomas-jefferson-ibm-watson-effort-initially-focused-patient-satisfaction to view the full article online.

Human doctors made a correct diagnosis more than twice as often as 23 commonly used symptom-checker apps in a head-to-head comparison. The research, published in JAMA Internal Medicine, builds on a previous evaluation of symptom-checker apps and websites that found many had deficits in both diagnosis and triage accuracy.

Visit http://www.fiercehealthcare.com/it/face-off-human-doctors-more-accurate-than-symptom-checker-apps to view the full article online.

Dr. David Feinberg is equally comfortable talking about Starbucks’ customer service as he is about medicare reimbursements and patient outcomes. And that’s why Feinberg is an astonishingly effective health care leader. Feinberg is constantly looking outside of his industry for creative ideas on how to improve a category that makes up more than 18 percent of the U.S. economy.

Visit http://www.forbes.com/sites/carminegallo/2016/09/29/5-astonishingly-effective-ways-this-healthcare-leader-is-reinventing-the-hospital-experience/#e5afff46001b to view the full article online.

Confronting relatively low health literacy and medication adherence among its patients — especially congestive heart failure patients who must manage a complex maze of multiple medications — has been a challenge at the 455-bed South Nassau Communities Hospital in Oceanside, New York.

Visit http://www.fiercehealthcare.com/healthcare/coordinated-care-teams-help-patients-navigate-post-discharge-care to view the full article online.