Survey Shows Impact of Downturn on Job Satisfaction

Salary.com Inc. has released results from its fourth annual 2008/2009 Employee Satisfaction and Retention Survey. According to the survey, employee satisfaction levels are often overestimated by employers. A set of questions new to this year’s survey found that the current economic climate was less of a deterrent to job seeking than employers anticipated, while variables such as income, job level, industry and age remained consistent factors that affect job satisfaction year-over-year. …

More than 7,141 employees and 363 human resources (HR) professionals participated in the survey which revealed new insights into who is happy, who is looking, why employees stay, where employers may be off target in their efforts to retain employees and where they may be at risk when economy recovers. The survey offers new insights to help employers align with what employee’s value and be more effective in designing retention strategies that work.

“The most interesting result from the 2008 survey was the evidence that employers were out of touch with their employees’ satisfaction levels and were overestimating the tough economic environment as a deterrent to job seeking,” said Nicholas Camelio, senior vice president of human resources, Salary.com.

Source: Occupational Health and Safety February 7, 2009

Fight for physicians sours some relationships

Banner Health is moving further away from the standard doctor-hospital relationships, putting North Colorado Medical Center in direct competition for primary care physicians with independent doctor groups in Greeley.

The move by the hospital to hire its own doctors — a trend for the past few years nationwide — so far has created tension with some existing independent doctor groups in Greeley. Some have taken their business to the competition in Loveland or Fort Collins, leaving many to worry that Greeley health care could be compromised.

The relationship Banner has with Greeley’s largest independent medical group, Greeley Medical Clinic, is souring as a result. They both are competing for a shrinking pool of physicians — an area in which they used to cooperate.

Source: The Greeley Tribune February 8, 2009

PracticeMatch: Healthcare Survey Defines Physician Recruitment Challenges

The most recent survey of in-house physician recruiters across the country revealed that the physician shortage is taking a toll on hospital systems throughout the United States, and recruiting departments are changing tactics and personnel to combat the lack of physicians to fill key provider roles. St. Louis-based PracticeMatch Services has officially released results from their most recent recruitment and retention survey of recruiting departments’ and medical groups’ responses to the physician shortage and departmental and fiscal changes.

Data were compiled between September 12 – October 15, 2008, from a response group of 109 physician recruiters from healthcare systems and groups in 36 states.

Top findings include:
Growing Physician Shortage:
– 15% of respondents had to fill between 100 and 800 provider openings
before 2011; the average number of positions to be filled is
approximately 31
– 45% report over 1-year search time for all medical specialties
– Nearly 75% reported needing to interview between 3 and 5 physicians for
each open opportunity
– 58% depend on Locum Tenens physicians (temporary staffing) to fill open
positions until a permanent provider is found; most report using Locums
to fill the role of Hospitalist, a field that continues to grow in
demand and popularity in the medical community
– 81% report a growing need for recruitment, while fewer than 6% reported
a decrease
…
The Effects of the Shortage on Recruiting Departments:
– The number of recruiters hired over the past year has increased by
24.5%
– A majority of respondents report difficulty in drawing candidates to
their system or group, with 56% naming their location as the biggest
detriment to hiring physicians
– Almost all respondents listed compensation and location as the top
priorities they have found physicians have when looking at an
opportunity
– 61% of respondents said a strong demand exists among physicians for
lower to no call schedules, with an added emphasis on quality of life

Source: 
PR Newswire Feruary 5, 2009

Agencies tap into social media to handle outbreak

HHS, the Food and Drug Administration, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are using social-media tools to relay information about the recall of peanut butter and other peanut products linked to recent outbreaks of Salmonella typhimurium.

An FDA-maintained database listing all recalled peanut products can be searched by brand name or found by product category, and the agencies are using other media tools to broadcast the information, including YouTube, Twitter, a blog and a new social media Web page from the three groups.

According to the CDC, there have been 550 cases in 43 states with the most recent reported illness on Jan. 17. Late last month the FDA said epidemiological analysis and laboratory testing by state officials in Minnesota and Connecticut allowed the FDA and CDC to confirm that the source of the outbreak of illnesses caused by Salmonella typhirmurium are peanut butter and peanut-paste products produced by the Peanut Corporation of America at its processing plant in Blakely, Calif. The agency plans to post its next update on Feb. 5.

Source: Modern Healthcare February 3, 2009

Minnesota roundup: Psychiatrist shortage…

It’s been a challenge to recruit psychiatrists in central Minnesota, and now those who do practice in the area are having a hard time keeping up with demand, with many people worried about job losses or the economy.

St. Cloud Hospital is not taking new patients, and Central Minnesota Mental Health Center has a five-month waiting list for new patients who want to see someone who can prescribe medication.

“We can get someone in to see a mental health professional within two weeks, but we have a scarcity of psychiatry,” said David Baraga, executive director of Central Minnesota Mental Health Center, which has offices in St. Cloud, Elk River, Monticello and Buffalo.

The center has three full-time, board-certified psychiatrists and three clinical nurse specialists who can also prescribe medication.

“They see a person every 20 minutes, and even with that turnover, we’re seeing over a thousand patients in psychiatry,” said Baraga.

Steve Vincent, care center director at Behavioral Health Services, said the shortage of psychiatrists is a nationwide problem. The center has seven child psychologists, 12 adult psychologists and 20 licensed mental health professionals who are marriage and family therapists or social workers.

Source: Grand Forks Herald February 9, 2009

Why Are You Doing This?

When it comes to tugging at the public’s heartstrings, few lobbying campaigns match the latest one from New York’s powerful health care interests. In one new television commercial, a blind man in a wheelchair appeals to Gov. David Paterson, who is legally blind. “Why are you doing this to me?” the man asks the governor plaintively.

A better question should go to the health unions and hospitals paying for these ads. Mainly, why are you doing this — again? Frightening citizens and trying to intimidate officials working to make sense of health care spending and balance the state budget fairly?

Source: The New York Times February 2, 2009

Study finds that resident physicians at teaching hospitals underuse interpreter services

A new study has found that resident physicians at teaching hospitals underuse interpreter services — often relying on hand gestures or a limited number of words in the patient’s native language.

According to the research team, the study is the first to closely examine how resident physicians arrive at the decision of whether or not to use an interpreter. Commonly known as residents, these physicians are licensed MDs who are taking part in advanced training at a hospital under the supervision of its medical staff.

The study is published in the February 2009 issue of the “Journal of General Internal Medicine” and is available online at

… Research findings showed that residents recognized that they were not taking full advantage of interpreter services and they tended to depend on the patient’s family members, gestures, or their own limited second-language skills when communicating with patients with limited English proficiency—a process they often termed “getting by.”

Source: Media Newswire February 2 2009

Disruptive Innovation, Applied to Health Care

THE health care system in America is on life support. It costs too much and saps economic vitality, achieves far too little return on investment and isn’t distributed equitably. As the Obama administration tries to diagnose and treat what ails the system, however, reformers shouldn’t be worried only about how to pay for it.

Source: The New York Times February 1, 2009

Your E-Health Records

As part of the stimulus package, $20 billion will be pumped into the health care system to accelerate the use of electronic health records. The goal is both to improve the quality and lower the costs of care by replacing cumbersome paper records with electronic records that can be easily stored and swiftly transmitted.

The idea is sound, but it also raises important questions about how to ensure the privacy of patients. Fortunately, the legislation would impose sensible privacy protections despite attempts by business lobbyists to weaken the safeguards.

Source: The New York Times January 31, 2009

Trustees give go-ahead for doctor’s agreement

Hospital trustees voted Thursday to allow administrators to continue with contract negotiations with Jackson Pediatrics recruit Dr. Travis Riddell, nephew of board President Ed Riddell.

Trustees voted 4-0 — with Ed Riddell recusing himself and trustees Dr. Bruce Hayse and Peter Moyer abstaining — to allow CEO Jim Schuessler to proceed with an agreement that would pay Dr. Riddell’s medical school debt payment over five years. Jackson Pediatrics is expected to hire Riddell, and St. John’s Medical Center’s commitment could be approximately $130,000 throughout a five-year period, hospital officials have said.

Hayse and Moyer said they were abstaining from the vote because they considered the matter a decision of the previous board.

Community members have recently expressed concern with the board’s decision to make an agreement with Dr. Riddell, and a guest editorial in the Jackson Hole News&Guide asked for Ed Riddell’s resignation because of a conflict of interest.

Source: Jackson Hole Daily January 26, 2009