ASHHRA eNews Pulse

AHA News
Hospitals and health systems are dedicated to safeguarding the privacy of patients’ medical information and believe that the current HIPAA rules generally offer an effective framework that permits covered entities to share patients’ protected health information for the purposes of treatment, payment and health care operations without creating significant impediments to the robust use and disclosure of patients’ PHI necessary to support high-quality care, AHA said in comments submitted on the Department of Health and Human Services.

AHA News
About 29 percent of adults with health insurance last year were underinsured, with high deductibles and out-of-pocket expenses relative to their income, according to the latest Biennial Health Insurance Survey by the Commonwealth Fund. That’s up from 22 percent in 2010, when the Affordable Care Act was enacted, with the largest increase among people with job-based health plans. 

AHA News
In recent years, Airbnb, Uber and Netflix have changed the way we vacation, hail a ride and watch movies. These innovative companies are market disruptors — with business models grounded in experimentation to offer consumers a better experience. There is plenty of disruption occurring in health care too. 

Human Resources Today
A pay equity analysis can identify and address compensation imbalances, part of ensuring that companies work toward an equitable employee experience. Every organization, no matter what size or industry, should consider running a pay equity analysis, but it's not as simple as it seems. 

Workforce
Off-the-clock pre-shift and post-shift cases are difficult, expensive and risky. If you lose, you're not just paying your lawyer, but also the plaintiffs' lawyer.

Forbes
Writing for Forbes, Brian Menickella notes that HR executives are being more frequently named as defendants in fiduciary breech lawsuits. He writes with reference to a lawsuit filed in July 2017 against oil and gas company Pioneer Natural Resources. As well as naming the company and the 401(k) committee, the lawsuit lists numerous HR and finance executives.

HealthLeaders Media
The CEO of the Seattle-based system discusses C-suite longevity, business strategy and Amazon.

Health care industry experts have for decades discussed the severity of the nursing shortage affecting hospitals and health systems in the U.S., the report states. However, recent research and projections conducted by the HHS' Health Resources and Services Administration indicate most states are not suffering from a nursing shortage, and that a surplus will likely grow during the next decade.

AONE
The number of licensed nurse practitioners (NPs) in the U.S. grew from 248,000 in March 2018 to 270,000 in January 2019, according to the latest report from the American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP). 

Healthcare Dive
The health care delivery field could save between $1.2 trillion and $2.3 trillion over the next decade by focusing on productivity gains and not workforce expansion, according to a new McKinsey & Company report.