2016

We’ve discussed in the past the parameters of a just culture for patient safety, but a topic that we haven’t touched on yet is why HR leaders should develop one. You know that creating a culture of patient safety is important, and in this article, we’re going to cover why HR leaders need a just culture in today’s healthcare environment.

Here’s why HR leaders should develop a just culture within their organizations:

At the end of each year, we analyze the existing and emerging trends in healthcare, as well as the direction the industry is headed, in order to provide you with the most important things you need to know to prepare for the upcoming year.

Here are a few of the market trends being projected for healthcare in 2017:

We can’t believe it’s already time to recap 2016, but what a year it has been! Leonardo DiCaprio finally won a Golden Globe, and there were record snow conditions at the start of the year. The Denver Broncos defeated the Carolina Panthers in the 50th Super Bowl. And, of course, most recently, the Cubs won their first World Series in over a hundred years, and the U.S. welcomed a new President.

In health news, major progress was made in DNA and fertility research, and Zika became a serious concern for individuals and healthcare workers alike, as experts are still working to find a solution.

As we prepare to wrap up 2016, let’s tie the bow by recapping a few of our most popular articles from the year

When it comes to managed care, physician offices understand the value of data and metrics. They know how important it is to report on things like numbers of patient visits and numbers of employed staff, but when it comes to putting these insights to use, they’re at a loss.

As physicians and healthcare professionals, our focus is always on the patient: their health, their safety and their experience during their time with us. There are a few things we wish we could tell them about what we do, and, more importantly, about what we do for them.

Here are 11 things all physicians and healthcare professionals wish patients knew

You’ve probably been hearing a lot about just culture, especially if you work in HR. But before we can guide you to developing a just culture within your organization, we first need to define what a just culture is.

According to experts, these are the parameters of a just culture

Chains. Links. Handshakes.

Legos. Puzzle pieces. Gears.

If you’ve ever visited a healthcare website—and healthcare recruiting sites, in particular—these are some of the most common images you’ll see. Just take a look at ours.

But what is it that they all have in common?

Hospital revenues are declining, costs are increasing and forecasted volumes are shrinking.

The Patient Protections and Affordable Care Act of 2010 focused attention on eliminating waste in the system. This law also mandated reductions in Medicare payments. As we all know, the shift to value-based payments will focuses on outcomes rather than episodes of treatment and testing.

Maintaining and increasing operating margins over the long term requires daily attention and decisive action in managing revenues and controlling expenses. To be blunt, all of us on the provider side of healthcare must change the way they do business.

In the short term, providers can take several actions to improve margins. These include…

You run a successful healthcare organization.

Patients are happy, teams are happy, and the employee retention rate has never been better.

Sound too good to be true? That’s because, for many of you, it probably is. Let’s just be honest. For most of us, the above vision might not be reality just yet, and you might be discovering that an improved employee retention rate is more difficult to achieve than it sounds.

Difficult? Yes. Crucial? Absolutely. Easy? Well, maybe not.

“Good morning!”

“Good morning!”

“How are you?”

“Great, and you?”

“Can’t complain!”

This employer/employee interaction is probably familiar to you. As a busy leader and executive, it can be easier to have these quick conversations with your employees, before isolating yourself to your office for the rest of the day, while your employees do the same.