Via a google search I came across an interesting interview at a site called the Business of Healthcare. Specifically, I found a podcast with a gentleman named Steven Barney on the topic of Human Resources in healtchare. Mr. Barney is the SVP of HR for the SSM Healthcare system in the Midwest.
Though the interview starts with the interviewer stating that he always felt that “HR is just a barrier, a bureaucratic engine that is just a support function” the topic soon shifts to more valuable thinking from Mr. Barney. I’d recommend a listen if you have the time (it’s about 50 mins – a little long for my taste).
Healthcare is a very unique industry with a number of difficult people-related challenges. As Mr. Barney notes, 40 – 50% of all expenses in the hospital world are people – they are the main instrument for providing care. But, with a very diverse workforce with workers from across the educational spectrum and a “tradition of hierarchy” aligning the workforce behind common goals is no simple task. Nevertheless, he says, there are just simply too many moving pieces to allow credentials to get in the way. It’s necessary to bring everyone to the table in order to move forward.
Obviously, SSM has done a good job of goal alignment. With a stated focus on quality, the organization won the Malcom Baldridge National Quality Award in 2002. It was the first healthcare organization of any kind to so.
One of the more interesting moments in the discussion came when Barney spoke about a couple of the HR challenges he sees in the healthcare space:
1. Matching the workforce to demands of new intiatives. New technology like Electronic Medical Records and state of the art imaging require appropriately trained people to make them worthwhile. Barney speaks about the many hundreds of millions his hospital planned to spend on a brand new facility to cater to increased community needs, and the difficulties they may face in finding the right workers to work there.
2. Diversity. The increasing diversity of the American population means that hospitals have to work increasingly hard to hire and retain an equally diverse workforce. He notes that the people in the beds have cultural and ethnic needs that hospitals must work to satisfy.
One other bit I found interesting was that Barney disagrees with the common perception that there is a dearth of leadership in the healthcare space. He feels its not a lack of talent, but a reliance on hierarchy and lack of vision that gets in the way. Curious to know if any of you have a reaction to that?
January 31st, 2006 at 9:49 am
I’m surprised that any healthcare organization feels HR is a barrier and “just a support function.” While I agree that healthcare can be extremely administrative as practitioners struggle to work with operational practitioners, there is plenty of strategic work to go around.
HR is always in competition with (for example) nurse operations where the nursing staff self manages scheduling, license and competency management, etc… Additionally, there is competition for budget. When you can spend $1M implementing a state of the art HRMS, or you can contribute to a new c.t. scan machine, it’s a rough sell considering the mission of a healthcare organization.
Having said that, I’ve seen recruiting organizations going to to local schools, sponsoring nursing programs, and actively creating growth in their professional ranks. They do this not only to create more entry into their own workforce, but to create a larger pool regionally. I’ve also seen many other examples where HR in healthcare are being exremely proactive in finding unique ways to support their organizations, which are often in crisis.
Max, I haven’t listened to the interview (50 mins is a bit long for me too), but having read the quote above, I heartily disagree.
January 31st, 2006 at 11:23 am
Dubs,
It wasn’t the intervieweee (Barney) who made that comment – it was the interviewer. Nevertheless, your point holds.
March 15th, 2006 at 7:19 am
Health Care is a multi diverse culture influenced by people and expertise.
The challenges of health care in this country are also complex. Health Care use to be simple
1. you go to a doctor’s office for a check up,
2. you get sick and you go to the hospital
3. you get old and you go into a nursing home
Now levels of care a complex and diverse and each level of care implies a diverse set of needs blended with expertise and science; and hospital beds around the country are reducing the number of beds for life threatening illness
We now have
1. doctors offices
2. birth centers
3. day surgery centers
4. testing centers, e.g. MRI
5. special care centers, e.g. cancer
6. community hospitals
7. assisted living
8. hospitals for life threatening illness
9. wellness centers, e.g. prenatal centers, health education programs,
10. hospice
I could go on .
This means the job of HR is not simple and the credentialing and training needs implied are culture specific.
A quality HRMS system has to have imagination for understanding the hidden emotional intelligence and variations of needs and how staff of any credential carry that out on the job and translate it into performance.
Health Care is also a team-driven culture when a best practice more so than any industry that I have worked in.
I believe that within the Success Factors applications for health care there are over 3100 JCAHO defined competencies and skills integrated into the system.
That is an incredible testimony to the complexity of health care today.