The COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc on the business model of healthcare organizations as the healthcare system shut down all but emergency services, set up separate triage centers, and shifted many services to telemedicine. What can we learn from this crisis? One of the key insights is that healthcare organizations should look to healthcare management, who is responsible for managing healthcare change over the long term, while maintaining organizational flexibility and resilience sufficient to weather future challenges. You are trying to hire someone. Robert Havashy “Impact of COVID-19 on Healthcare Business and IT” The Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS), November 3, 2020 A recent white paper published by the Department of Health Sciences at St. Augustine University offers health professionals five resilience skills they can learn to prioritize how to advance their careers in today’s market.
Resilience Skill 1: Understanding the Revenue Cycle
Managing changes in healthcare and developing resilience skills can be necessitated by a crisis. “COVID has rocked our world,” said FHFMA (Healthcare Financial Management Association Fellow) and vice president of revenue cycle management for regional facilities at Atrium Health, a large North Carolina health care system. Chris Johnson said. “Like most other healthcare organizations, we have had to shift our focus from our traditional services to the care of patients affected by COVID. This change has had a significant negative impact on our bottom line. had an effect.”
In a previously unthinkable move, Atrium’s 70-person revenue cycle call center team was notified by a healthcare administrator that they would begin working remotely within days. The logistics and cash flow required for such a blistering move was staggering. Atrium’s revenue cycle team members have learned to navigate complex and related challenges and remain productive while working remotely.
How can we build this resilience skill?
Managing healthcare change requires healthcare administrators to have a deep understanding and skills in revenue cycle management. The Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA) offers the Certified Revenue Cycle Representative (CRCR) certification to develop and document your skills. While you can take the certification exam directly from HFMA, certification is also offered in the Master of Health Administration (MHA) course.
Resilience Skill 2: Developing Health Informatics Expertise
Managing change in healthcare may require healthcare administrators to use existing tools in new or broader ways. The pandemic has accelerated changes in the field of health informatics, especially telemedicine. Telemedicine use initially increased 78-fold from its pre-COVID-19 baseline. Its usage has now plateaued at about 38 times its pre-COVID baseline. This is a clear indication that regular telemedicine use is taking hold. Source: USAHS White Paper “5 RESILIENCE SKILLS FOR KEEPING YOUR ORGANIZATION AGILE IN TIMES OF CHANGE” and source: Oleg Bestennyy et al., “Telehealth: The Reality After COVID-19 at Half a Trillion Dollar?” McKinsey & Company9 July 2021.
One of the key factors in providing an effective telemedicine experience for patients is having all the information doctors need at their fingertips. His Parnaz Rafatjou, DHA, MHA, MBA, Vice President of Operations and Client Experience at Telemedicine for Wellness Physicians in Tacoma, Washington, said: Seamless patient hand-off. Adopting new and more efficient health information strategies is critical to delivering the future of healthcare.
How can we build this resilience skill?
Healthcare administrators use informatics to transform data into intelligence to make decisions that impact business operations and patient care. Understanding healthcare business intelligence helps her monitor strategic technology investments and bridge the gap between her IT, clinical, and business aspects of healthcare organizations. Our MHA program offers intensive health informatics research through business intelligence or related specializations.
Resilience Skill 3: Know Your Team’s Motivation
Keeping team members engaged is a major challenge for healthcare administrators managing the care of the future. The pandemic has reshaped workplace dynamics, with employees furloughed, furloughed, and even going home to work remotely. Christine Sibley, MBA, EJD, CPA, CMA, FHFMA, teaches her Organizational Behavior course in her MHA program at St. Augustine University Health Sciences (USAHS) and said: Over the next few years, we will get more clarity about workplace culture. “
At Atrium Health in Charlotte, North Carolina, where Sibley is AVP of Reimbursement, managers have created innovative ways to keep employees engaged. Her members of the team lost out on familiar social rituals like talking around her cooler of water, so they set up a virtual coffee break and an optional happy hour inviting family and pets. Healthcare administrators must develop skills and strategies to socially connect their remote her team or hybrid team.
How can we build this resilience skill?
Courses like Sibley employ role-playing scenarios to brainstorm solutions. Our MHA program focuses on the area of interprofessional education, promoting effective professional and social communication in future healthcare administrators to keep care team members engaged and motivated. teaches you how to
Resilience Skill 4: Demonstrate Cultural Competence
To effectively manage healthcare in the future, healthcare administrators must be culturally competent. This is a critical quality for providing healthcare in an increasingly diverse context. Dr. Caixa Hariel, PhD, LAT, ATC, who co-teaches the Cultural Competences in Healthcare course within her MHA program at St. Augustine University Health Sciences, said: The pandemic has further exposed these existing health disparities, disproportionately impacting communities of color. Pacific Islander Americans, Latinos, Indigenous peoples, and Black Americans all outnumber Whites and Asian Americans more than twice as often due to disparities in access, affordability, and other areas. Has COVID-19 mortality.
From top management to the front lines of healthcare delivery, care team members must have the tools to respond with the goal of providing respectful, competent care to all patients . Healthcare administrators play a pivotal role in de-biasing policies and procedures while enacting new policies that promote equality.
How can we build this resilience skill?
Cultural competence can be developed through workplace diversity training and courses like Dr. Hariel. Many MHA programs offer in-depth training in cultural competencies and other strategies to facilitate effective interaction, intercultural communication, and the delivery of compassionate care by a team of professionals.
Resilience Skill 5: Leading a Multidisciplinary Team
Healthcare administrators responsible for managing healthcare in the future will need to develop multiple skill sets in communicating with various stakeholders, including interprofessional care teams. A siled approach to patient care, with each practitioner treating in isolation, can lead to communication breakdowns during patient handoffs, which are a leading cause of significant medical errors. In contrast, a comprehensive care team approach correlates with improved patient satisfaction and well-being, making organizations stronger and more resilient.
Thomas Tarantola (MHA) is a Clinical Systems Support Analyst at Baptist Health in Jacksonville, Florida. He says the MHA program’s interprofessional courses have given him a new perspective on teamwork. “We have practiced learning how to find compromises and work together towards the same end goal. is important and can be learned through experience.”
How can we build this resilience skill?
Interprofessional team building skills can be learned within the MHA program offering interprofessional courses. A focus on interprofessional education builds the leadership, project management, and communication skills needed to lead an interprofessional team.
How to Build These 5 Resilience Skills
Read the full white paper here.
All five of these core competencies (understanding the revenue cycle, health informatics, care team motivation, cultural competence, and interprofessional teamwork) are related. They are all necessary competencies for future healthcare administrators responsible for managing healthcare change.
Learning all five resilience skills is the core and fundamental focus of the MHA program at St. Augustine University of Health Sciences. By, you will be ready to be a successful healthcare administrator with the skills, knowledge, and insight to lead your healthcare organization through its next healthcare iteration.
The USAHS MHA program also provides:
- Certification program to earn the Certified Revenue Cycle Clerk (CRCR) Certification (Resilience Skill 1)
- Business Intelligence MHA Intensive Option with accreditation program leading to Certified Specialist in Business Intelligence (CSBI) certification (Resilience Skills 2)
- A focus on interprofessional education and MHA concentration options for interprofessional education (resilience skills 3 and 5)
- Broad cultural competencies training and education (resilience skill 4)
Ready to take the next step towards MHA?
Find out more about USAHS MHA degrees, including focus on interprofessional education, executive leadership, business intelligence, MHA specializations in interprofessional education, and graduation certificates.
