Health Services Professionals

Introduction

Retention refers to keeping good staff at an organization. Turnover is costly in terms of the time spent to replace a staff member and the dollars spent to advertise, review applications, interview candidates, and train new hires. Effective administrators look into why good staff members leave their organization and what encourages them to stay.

In this LearnScape, Bright Road Healthcare System is experiencing financial problems, for example insurers with late payments, Medicare patients with high readmission rates within 30 days (lost Medicare reimbursement), high staff turnover increasing costs, and low admissions to its obstetrics service. The Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) is very concerned as he knows this reflects poorly on him and may affect his continued employment. The student, a financial consultant, will work with Bright Road Healthcare System staff members to review and analyze how operations in the healthcare system negatively affect its finances.

In the continuing evolution of healthcare, in the U.S., the industry has adopted more of a corporate model of service delivery, whereby the focus is on how to maintain a competitive advantage in the marketplace. This requires offering the right products and services, talent acquisition and retention, maintaining a healthy payer mix, managing the revenue cycle, cost containment, quality management, and innovation. Since we’re in a service delivery business, it cannot be over emphasized the significant role that people play in our industry. More specifically, we rely heavily on the competencies of highly skilled professionals when it comes to the delivery of health care services to a broad base of clients. While some turnover in an organization is healthy and perhaps even necessary, if the voluntary turnover is too great it can have a significant impact on access, cost, and quality. In the LearnScape scenario, students will begin to appreciate the impact that personnel play in the operations of a healthcare organization and the impact that personnel issues can have on almost every aspect of the business. In addition, the students will gain an appreciation for the roles and functions of certain personnel and what they perceive to be satisfiers and dissatisfiers. A discussion on the role that technology plays in improving operational efficiencies and freeing up caregiver time to better engage clients is explored.

Unit Learning Outcomes

• ULO #1: Analyze current healthcare workforce trends, transitions, and issues from a macro (industry) perspective. (CLO 7)
• ULO #2: From a micro level (organization), examine the impact that personnel have on the operational and financial performance of healthcare entities. (CLO 7)
• ULO #5: Distinguish between key health services personnel. (CLO 3)

Directions

• LearnScapes Scenario
• Initial Posting
• Peer Responses

LearnScapes Scenario

(Initial Posting) Students are to complete the LearnScape for Health Care Delivery: Episode 2: Financial Issues (Scenario).

To view the Scenario:

• Click on the link below to access this Unit’s Scenario
• Copy and paste the appropriate Access Code you received from http://www.shopjblearning.com/ into the Subscription Activation field

Financial Issues

Based on the information provided in the scenario and on an outside review of the relevant literature, the students will carefully consider options that will improve the financial position of the healthcare system by addressing the negative trends experienced by the organization. The students will prepare a formal recommendation on changes that can improve the operational and financial performance of Bright Road to the Chief Administrative Officer. When formulating the recommendation, it is important to take into consideration the current healthcare workforce trends and best practices in the area of talent retention. The recommendation needs to be well supported, logically presented, and thoroughly vetted.