Healthcare executives should have a strong interest in the recently released Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 106, Employers' Accounting for Postretirement Benefits other than Pensions (SFAS 106). The requirements of SFAS 106 focus heavily on estimating the healthcare benefits of retirees and forces corporations to project the magnitude of ...

Strategic technology management decisions are one of the best opportunities for healthcare providers to positively meet clinical needs, patient expectations and competitiveness goals. Technology management must not be treated as an event (annual capital budgeting) but as a well-thought-out, long-range business plan. A strategic technology management team should be formed ...

A recent study examining accounting practices currently being used to prepare annual hospital financial statements indicates relatively little diversity, regardless of organizational type or size. The study's findings should interest those concerned with healthcare accounting and financial reporting issues, especially healthcare administrators and members of standards setting boards who participate ...

At press time, the details of the Clinton administration's healthcare reform package were not yet public. Some information has been leaked, however, fueling speculation about the plan's exact points. Computers in Healthcare asked three board members of the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives what they thought the Clinton healthcare ...

The use of lead employees with expanded roles and increased responsibilities gives a manager a unique opportunity to improve communications while cutting costs and lifting morale. It allows a manager to better utilize employees to schedule employees, monitor work flow, assess quality, and assign tasks that have been traditionally given ...

At Bishop Clarkson Memorial Hospital in Omaha, CEO D. Max Francis has a passion. He talks it day and night. His managers will practice modern management processes and techniques. Where the majority of healthcare organizations are still remarkably hierarchical in their management structure, Clarkson Hospital has broken those traditional boundaries. ...

Provides a theoretical and practical overview of one organization's total quality management initiative. Concentrates particularly on the pursuit and achievement of registration against the quality assurance standard BS 5750/ISO 9002. The organization is a public sector trading agency providing a financial internal audit service to a range of clients within ...

By combining bar code scanning technology with computer-assisted record retrieval technology, St. Vincent Hospital and Healthcare Center in Indianapolis, Ind., has automated its patient financial records management operation. In the process, the hospital has not only streamlined its account management process, but has also reduced labor and storage costs and ...

While most leaders recognize the value of good planning, most lack the experience and methods to do it systematically. As a result, group planning efforts are often frustrating, generating plans that are shallow and poorly understood by those who must carry them out. The seven management and planning tools are ...

The traditional process for capital equipment installation in healthcare settings is often not managed to maximum effectiveness. Cost overruns from unplanned construction or from construction change orders are frequently caused by breakdowns in communications between architects, equipment vendors, building contractors, and managers of healthcare services. Through the use of a ...

Electronic data interchange (EDI) is redefining the healthcare claims process. The traditional managerial approach to claims processing emphasizes information flow within the patient accounting department and between patient accounting and other departments. EDI enlarges the scope of the claims process to include information exchange between providers and payers. Using EDI ...

In the healthcare industry, there is an increasing number of managers who operate clinics geographically separated from the administration and from other managers. Physical distance creates barriers to communication and also inhibits psychological attachment to the healthcare organization. This can result in dysfunctional management styles, with managers appearing passive, overly ...

Examines managing performance as an integrated, dynamic process, involving strategic decisions, people value, management of change and communication. Concludes that it is better to be a learning company than an excellent company, as this leads to commitment to employee development, which in turn leads to managing human resources effectively, therefore ...

Quality leadership is a precondition for implementing quality management. How organizational leaders structure and direct an organization as well as how they behave within an organization are critical elements to the success of an effective quality management process. This article addresses these leadership issues and presents a plan for quality ...

In summary, corporations large and small that hope to survive and prosper in the future will be those that learn how to unleash the awesome power of their employees. This involves introducing a healthy dose of democracy into the workplace. It involves focusing on the employees and helping them to ...

Downsizing is perhaps the synonym for management in the 1990's. Many managers believe it is a sure means of lowering overhead, reducing bureaucracy and improving organizational decision making. Downsizing is the systematic reduction in numbers of managers and employees working for an organization. It is designed to make the organization ...

Total quality management (TQM) represents a paradigm shift in the organizational values that shape every aspect of a healthcare provider's activities. The TQM approach to quality management subscribes to the theory that it is not the work of employees of an organization that leads to poor quality; rather, it is ...

Federal and state governments may soon require provision of managed care to the Medicaid eligible segment of the community. HMO financial managers must develop financial and operational plans prior to entering into negotiations for the development of a contract with a state. Key financial and operational issues related to Medicaid ...

In summary, non-profit organizations are often blessed with an abundance of enthusiastic and talented volunteers. However, to use volunteers effectively, development directors must be diplomatic, highly skilled and very well-organized. They must also understand the unique aspects of managing volunteers. The effective management of volunteers can ensure success for a ...

While a great effort has been devoted to improving financial management techniques in the healthcare field, little attention has been paid to addressing the ethical issues facing financial managers. In the years ahead, the ability to evaluate the ethical aspects of alternative courses of action may be as important as ...

When crisis occurs in a healthcare facility, it involves not only the individual and his or her family, but also staff and management personnel--and personnel often are as disoriented and confused by crisis as is the individual. Healthcare providers, trained to manage the crises of others, are often at a ...

Again, employee orientation and ongoing education are crucial. The orientation should include not only cover protection of the employee but protection and management of supplies as they reach the consumer. The consultative role of the infection control person is also valuable, especially with regard to sterilizers and to sterilization and ...

The next step in coralling the back-office-beast is automating remittance processing. Before taking any steps in that direction, healthcare providers need to establish new procedures for cash management and patient accounting. Opportunities exist for related uses of electronic data interchange (EDI), which will provide additional benefits but will also trigger ...

The following speech was delivered in November 1991 by Dr. Lerner at the New England American Society for Healthcare Environmental Services [ASHES] regional conference. It concerns issues vital to the management of environmental and occupational health and safety in healthcare facilities and should be read by hazardous materials managers and ...

For their own reasons, both healthcare managers and employees dislike performance evaluation interviews. Managers would rather avoid the role of appraiser, and employees often dispute the accuracy of their assessments. The resulting poorly handled interview often resembles a power struggle more than a performance review. This article describes several interview ...

This report, from the Chairman of the 1991-92 Long Range Planning Committee, outlines the AHRA's strategic plan. Mr. Schwartz presents some strategic management challenges and self-assessment models and identifies the key trends impacting radiology management. He also defines the AHRA's customers and competitors, products and services, strengths and weaknesses, and ...

Frustrated by the inadequacies of traditional performance measurement systems, some managers have abandoned financial measures like return on equity and earnings per share. "Make operational improvements and the numbers will follow," the argument goes. But managers do not want to choose between financial and operational measures. Executives want a balanced ...

Gone are the days when we can ignore the necessity for professional healthcare security management and hope the need will go away. It won't. As responsible managers, says the author, we must take a realistic approach in determining how to properly manage the risks being realized daily in healthcare institutions.

Preventive labor relations training for managers and supervisors is vital today. Management must take the necessary steps to prepare its leadership to face the reality of hospitals being a prime organization target in the 1990s. The U.S. Supreme Court ruling will undoubtedly result in increased union activity as was experienced ...

The Healthcare Forum Journal has compiled the following compendium of resources to serve as an aid to hospitals and other healthcare organizations in managing diversity optimally. This listing is not exhaustive. If you know of additional resources to help hospitals in managing diversity, please let us know by writing to: ...

In summary, the interviews obtained from this study suggest that CEO's in a variety of industries are attempting to "fit" their strategic planning process to their perceived environmental conditions. Indeed, management thinkers believe the biggest challenge in strategic planning will be turning CEO's into true strategic thinkers. The most successful ...

Influenced by the Japanese management concept of "just-in-time," healthcare organizations are looking to their departmental inventories for possible cost reductions. Some organizations have developed a materials management technique known as stockless inventory, in which much of the management of an organization's supplies is switched to an outside vendor. By eliminating ...

We feel a very important part of the career development of any healthcare supply manager is knowing the companies you do business with. The following Corporate Profiles, which contain information about the mission, structure, background and products of leading companies in the healthcare field, are an excellent way to achieve ...

Creativity and innovation, according to Grudin, "lie near the heart of humanity." If CQI is to be the force that will transform healthcare organizations into more systems-conscious and customer-driven endeavors, creativity and innovation must be encouraged and practiced. Given that they have a responsibility to introduce new products and services ...

The rater's role in performance appraisal is pivotal. Providing consistent feedback and winning the trust of the employee by honest and open verbal exchange are deciding factors in the overall success of the appraisal program. The manager must be trained to perform evaluations skillfully and with a commitment to the ...

A safety program will generally have as its base a comprehensive written document made available for everyone in the organization. The document should indicate a positive commitment to safety by management. It should not be a "how to" guide, but rather a broad outline to establish responsibilities, goals, and methods. ...

Although they may seem fundamentally different, similarities exist between operations of factories and healthcare organizations' business offices. As a result, a patient accounting approach based on manufacturing firms' management techniques may help smooth healthcare business processes. Receivables performance management incorporates the Japanese techniques of "just-in-time" and total quality management to ...

Creating an adequate supply of the requisite skills and competitive capabilities is a fundamental objective of strategy. Managing this process in an effective and systematic manner is difficult. Employing the strategic staircase is a proven way of overcoming this difficulty. The framework enables managers to break the strategic agenda into ...

Economic forecasts can be a vital tool for management to predict future outcomes and respond to them accordingly. They can also spell trouble for managers who don't know how to properly utilize them. The financial manager must therefore use every tool available when using financial forecasts during the planning process ...

Although the planning operation is regarded by some observers as unrealistic in conditions of rapid change and increasing competition, the discipline of strategic thinking and the need for strategic leadership continue to be of vital importance. The author examines the purpose of the Board of Directors and its role in ...

Strategic planning and strategic management are essential if a department intends to adapt and survive in the rapidly changing health care environment. Many hospitals require their individual departments to submit strategic plans and annual budgets. This is a sound management practice. In those institutions that do not require strategic plans, ...

Modern healthcare managers are looking for better ways to motivate their employees as well as document and evaluate employee performance. The term productivity is familiar to most healthcare managers. The term efficiency is less familiar. These terms are defined and their significance for use as unique and valuable indicators of ...

Despite the large number of women in the healthcare field, healthcare management resembles other industries in its severe lack of women in upper-management positions and in the "glass ceiling" that contributes to this dearth. Although not enough has been specifically written on women healthcare managers, the author reviews what is ...

As a supervisor it is important to realize that coaching will not only help the deficient employee but also inspire the good worker to become outstanding. This article will discuss the techniques and skills necessary in the coaching process. How can managers help their employees grow and be successful? Tom ...

Board approval of an operating budget, a traditional exercise of board authority, can trivialize board leadership and stultify managerial prerogatives. Considered within a new governance paradigm, conventional budget approval is not only unnecessary, but dysfunctional. This article argues that boards should proactively establish policy for financial planning and then require ...

From the outside, management doesn't look like so difficult a job: schedule a few employees, attend a few meetings. From the inside, however, it's a different story, especially when it is the "inside" of the manager that determines managerial success. Although the author addresses clinicians who are interested in management, ...

The financial experience of an actual medical practice was used to develop a spreadsheet model of the business of medicine. The model is designed to provide reasonably accurate predictions of the financial outcome of business decisions affecting the practice. It has been used very successfully to teach practice management to ...

This article has outlined several steps to follow in assessing and building department influence at the top management levels of health care organizations. Identifying and contributing to resolving the organization's key areas of uncertainty are strategies that have improved the influence of many departments in recent years. Individual strategies, such ...

While the expression "battle between the sexes" may be a cliche, the question being asked in business and healthcare management circles focuses on who is rising to the top of the management hierarchy--the male or the female executive. Previous research has shown a smaller percentage of women than men make ...

A hospital's pension funds may be managed by its finance department, another internal department, or an outside investment adviser. Whatever the arrangement, healthcare financial managers should be involved in the decision between internal and external management of pension funds. A financial manager also can play a prominent role in developing ...