As more and more employers consider the increased cost of employee health insurance, the looming decision is whether or not to continue offering insurance coverage. “Between 2000 and 2011, the average annual employee-only premium more than doubled to $5,081 from $2,490. And during that period, the amount employees contributed toward premiums also skyrocketed, to $1,056 from $435,” according to the April 11 Modern Healthcare story “More employers dropping insurance.”

The study reveals that over the same 2000-2011 period, employer-sponsored insurance dropped 10 percent. So the question that lingers is, “Do you stand to lose your employer-sponsored coverage?” At least one demographic, adults between the ages of 19-25, continues to see a rise in employer-sponsored coverage. No surprise there, as this represents the government provision allowing those under 26 to remain on their parents’ insurance policy. For the rest of us, these are sobering times.

The future of who, how and what may be included in employer-sponsored coverage is anybody’s guess. And so, the uncertainties about our future health coverage continue. Rising costs result in fewer employers offering insurance coverage. As premiums increase, more employees are opting not to participate even when it’s offered. Just to throw a caveat into this saga, when employees do not accept to participate in employer coverage, they are not required to submit personal health information or participate in employer-required wellness programs. Either way, it is not encouraging.

The entire issue gets more complicated by the hour. Overall, this is a “lose-lose” situation. Employees become sick with no program in place to offset the cost for care, hence, they stay away from work longer. Employers then lose productive hours due to sicker or absent employees. As more employers increase employer-sponsored health insurance premiums or stop offering health insurance altogether, you will be impacted.

Consider yourself and your loved ones and seek to adapt lifestyle changes that will enable you to stay as healthy as you can for as long as you can. A healthy life may be your only option. It’s a no-brainer! If you take the steps necessary to optimize your health, your dependence and reliance on a program that may cease to exist will be greatly diminished. Your quality of life and health and that of those you care for may depend on it.

IRVING, TX – A salute to the North Texas hospital workforce, the Dallas-Fort Worth Hospital Council Foundation’s (DFWHC Foundation) Annual Employee of the Year Luncheon celebrated its 17th year April 18 with the announcement of the 2013 recipients at Irving Convention Center. Thirteen winners were introduced from a pool of 50-plus area hospitals.

“This event paid tribute to our nurses, physicians, volunteers and so many other dedicated professionals. They are healthcare heroes of North Texas,” said Kristin Jenkins, president of the DFWHC Foundation. “This event is an opportunity to honor the positive spirit and efforts of these dedicated employees allowing our hospitals to function smoothly.”

The recipients were:
Rex McRae Scholarship
• Vanita Currin, Nurse Extern, Methodist Mansfield Medical Center, Student, El Centro College

Physician Award
• Dr. Hoyt Frenzel, Texas Health Arlington Memorial Hospital

Volunteer Award
• Al Wexler, Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Southwest Fort Worth

Community Service Award
• Adam Whitman, Registered Nurse, HCA’s Medical Center of Lewisville

System Award
• Gaylene Stengel, Program Manager, Texas Health Resources

Special Recognition Awards
• Laura Sullivan, Registered Nurse, Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Allen
• Sharon Smith, Registered Nurse, Methodist Mansfield Medical Center
• Mary Jo Walters, Nursing Clinical Coordinator, Methodist Charlton Medical Center
• Erica Lax, Exercise Physiologist, HCA’s Medical City Dallas Hospital

Employee of the Year Awards
• Jill Hannebaum, Speech Therapist, Our Children’s House at Baylor
• Valorie Graves, Food Service Cashier, Hunt Regional Medical Center
• Christine Roberts, Registered Nurse, Educator, Baylor Regional Medical Center at Grapevine
• Heather Storie, Speech Pathologist, Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Fort Worth

The Drum Cafe, a communal drumming team with a motivational message, served as guest speakers in support of the luncheon’s theme, “The HeartBeat of Healthcare.” Rick Merrill, president/CEO of Cook Children’s Health Care System, served as master of ceremonies. Board members of the Dallas-Fort Worth Healthcare Human Resources Association judged the nominations with the names of individuals and hospitals removed. Selections were based on the facts presented.

The news this week surrounding the Boston Marathon bombing has mentioned Mister Fred Rogers as a model on dealing with tragedy. Mister Rogers Neighborhood was a touching television show I grew up on, running for more than 30 years on PBS. Mister Rogers said: “When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’”

I mentioned this to my 11-year old last night to comfort her worries while we talked about the bombing. She nodded, raised her eyebrows and asked, “Who is Mister Rogers?”

In time, the immediate shock of such a pointlessly violent action like Boston’s tragedy may fade, just like the identity of Mister Rogers is perhaps fading for America’s youth. But the imprint of the good and the bad, the heroes and horrors, tends to remain in our collective conscience. Since there is always bad in the world – and such reminders are sometimes startling – let’s redouble our efforts to be good neighbors and helpers every day.

The staff of the Dallas-Fort Worth Hospital Council Foundation extends sympathies and prayers for the victims and its deep gratitude to the many helpers in Boston.

The Dallas-Fort Worth Hospital Council Foundation’s (DFWHC Foundation) 17th Annual Employee of the Year Luncheon is just a few days away on Thursday, April 18. This is one of my favorite DFWHC Foundation events because it gives us a chance to recognize one of the hospital’s most important assets – employees and volunteers. These people are on the front line of providing great health care to the patients of North Texas.

There are more than 95,000 people employed in our North Texas hospitals. Some have roles dealing directly with patients every day. Some have vital roles providing the support necessary to make quality health care happen. This year we had over 100 nominees from North Texas hospitals. They included nurses, therapists, echo vascular technologists, pharmacist, analysts, mammography techs, patient care techs, food service workers, radiology techs, dietitians and more. All of these employees are important parts when providing healthcare on a daily basis. From these nominees, we have the difficult decision of picking recipients from each category. We will also recognize a physician of the year, nursing student scholarship winner and, in a new category – volunteer of the year.

Keeping hospital employees motivated and engaged is essential from the top of the organization to the critical support roles. Employee recognition is an important business process that improves employee retention, engagement and performance. Recognition can be provided to employees in a variety of ways – acknowledgement, parties, praise, treats, pictures, celebrations and more. It is important for us to find time in our busy schedules to thank our hospital staff and volunteers. They are making the difference in North Texas health care.

See you at the Employee of the Year Luncheon. Thank you and we appreciate what you do!

As previously mentioned, before you start building a database you need to know what problems you’re trying to solve. Assuming you have done this, you still may not be convinced of the value of investing in data analytics.

Here are some practical reasons why you should do physician data analytics:

1. Improve communication
An excellent use of data analytics is to establish follow-up procedures related to chronic conditions. The analytics tool can review your patients in the data base and automatically alert your staff when a preventive or diagnostic test should be done. As a physician, you do not have to “remember” to do this, your staff does not have to “remember” to do this, and your patients do not have to “remember.” The data analytics system is the engine behind “intelligent” reminders for patient care!

2. Lower the overall costs
In spite of your staff’s ability, without data analytics you do not actually know the costs of routine functions. Do you know how much it costs to contact a patient or do an H&P? Data analytics can take the same patient and reveal resources utilized, office time and staff time. You may discover physicians see the same patients with less time and expense. By knowing variations, your team can sit down and examine differences between a high performing physician/staff member and others. The key is to use data analytics to set work flows, goals and procedures for your staff. Over time, this improves operations and lowers the overall cost of your practice.

3. Improve volume of patients seen
A benefit of examining the “times” associated with patient flow and staff in your practice is you can plan how to remove roadblocks increasing the “in-out” time. By lowering the time per patient, you free up exam room space and allow for more patients to be scheduled. You’ve just increased the revenue of the practice!

4. Improve patient satisfaction
The most common complaint of patients is they wait too long to see a physician. By using data analytics to examine and manage work flow, you can target specific areas to reduce wait times. This automatically leads to greater patient satisfaction.

5. Improve quality of patient care
When a patient comes to your office with Internet printouts, many of the articles are irrelevant to the patient. With data analytics, you could say “based on the clinical evidence from best practices and similar cases, the better procedure is A instead of B,” and then show them the analytics-based data. Not only will you improve the quality of patient care, but the satisfaction of the patient will dramatically increase – a “double benefit” from using a clinical data analytics tool!