Overworked
It is time to restate some of the obvious. A few weeks ago, the CEO made comments to the Medical Staff and the employees about how the budget cuts were not going to affect patient care related areas. He was very clear in his statements and left little room for ambiguity.
I’d like anyone who has contact or relationships with nurses and other front-line health-care workers to ask them if this is true.
None of us believed what the CEO was publicly stating because his track record regarding these types of statements has been anything but accurate.
Nurses, aides, and other front line workers have been working with less staff then before. They are continually being asked to do more with less.
At what point will this become critical is anyone’s guess, but physicians certainly see and understand the situation clearly. There are numerous examples of how the cuts have affected patient care.
We applaud the nurses and other healthcare providers on the floors and in the ancillary departments for continuing to give 110 percent. We appreciate your willingness to come to work every day and try and make a difference. We appreciate the extra touches, TLC and kind words you give our patients every day.
The majority of doctors are truly concerned about our current situation and most of them are willing to listen to your concerns as well. Explain things to the physicians; especially when it comes to the patient care related issues.
We can only make a difference if we, as front-line providers, stick together for the good of our patients.
I’d like anyone who has contact or relationships with nurses and other front-line health-care workers to ask them if this is true.
None of us believed what the CEO was publicly stating because his track record regarding these types of statements has been anything but accurate.
Nurses, aides, and other front line workers have been working with less staff then before. They are continually being asked to do more with less.
At what point will this become critical is anyone’s guess, but physicians certainly see and understand the situation clearly. There are numerous examples of how the cuts have affected patient care.
We applaud the nurses and other healthcare providers on the floors and in the ancillary departments for continuing to give 110 percent. We appreciate your willingness to come to work every day and try and make a difference. We appreciate the extra touches, TLC and kind words you give our patients every day.
The majority of doctors are truly concerned about our current situation and most of them are willing to listen to your concerns as well. Explain things to the physicians; especially when it comes to the patient care related issues.
We can only make a difference if we, as front-line providers, stick together for the good of our patients.
posted by Anonymous at 6:30 AM
32 Comments:
In every institution that I've worked with over the past 35 years, at some point there have been layoffs, cuts and even loss of salary in every department except...........................................administration. I have never seen an administration take a pay cut or reduce staff. Generally, in hard times they start adding staff to replace those that were offered early retirement. The public perception, and maybe I'm wrong about this, is that Floyd Memorial is a smalltown hospital seeking the respect of the larger more respected institutions across the river.
HB your last post has a lot of good points but if you look at any buisness they have less employees, it is a easy way to cut cost. I worked in a factory in maintenance we had a crew of 135 men and now have 37 men trying to do the same work for the same pay. The managment as you say will listen but what good does it do for us working people? You also run a buisness. Have you had to cut any cost to save employees jobs? Or do you just raise fees to cover it? And who pays in the end working people. I believe in this world the rich are trying to get richer and not think about the working person!! So in turn why should the working person worry about the rich I know I'm not.
Good points. We certainly have made changes in our office. The difference is that we met with our employees and gave them the information and informed them of why and how things would change.
We did not give a false impression and state we were not going to affect certain areas as the hospital did and then do the opposite.
Patient care areas are being affected even though the CEO stated otherwise.
HB, as to your statement "We can only make a difference if we, as front-line providers, stick together for the good of our patients." It seems in one of your previous posts you were discussing dropping the Insurace coverage that many of your patients have.
Do you call that sticking together for the good of your patients. Granted the front-line providers, can't control their fate, just as patients can't control what is mandated by their Insurance Providers. It appears to me that their is already too much talk of "sticking together". Whats the old saying, The bigger you are the harder you fall??
On Monday, Healthblogger said...
"First off, I do not solicit the information that is given to me."
On Tuesday, Healthblogger said...
"I’d like anyone who has contact or relationships with nurses and other front-line health-care workers to ask them if this is true."
Read the previous blogs and comments.
We have to take control of the healthcare crisis. It has been controlled by the insurance and pharmaceutical companies for too long.
We will work with every patient individually for all costs incurred in our office. Cost should not be a sticking point in our office if the patient informs us of their hardship.
Health costs have been controlled by insurance and pharmacutical companys? What about doctors? A visit for maybe 5 or 10 minutes cost $150.00 I believe doctors have had control too long and insurance companys are taking back control doctors are getting worried and want patients to voice thier concerns. When in fact the patients are paying the insurance premiums which will only go up. This cycle must stop.
We, the consumers, ceded control. We wanted "free" health care and fooled ourselves for years thinking that we had it. We wanted to believe that an office visit was free, then $5, then $10, etc. We wanted believe that drugs were free, the $5, etc. We wanted to believe that health insurance was free, then $10, then $50, then single coverage only, etc. Now the chickens are coming home to roost.
As much as I would like to totally blame the healthcare industry(insurance included)we gave up control. To get that control back, we have to be the ones to write the checks. How else will we know what it really costs?
Runawaydoc wrote:
"Cigna alone posted revenues of 18.8 BILLION dollars in 2003. Think how many childhood immunizations that would buy?"
Just a point of clarification: REVENUE is not profit skimmed out of the system. It represents income before expenses such as reimbursements to providers and administrative costs. Actual profit that year was $650 million. A lot of money, but only about 3.5% of total revenue.
As an employee, not in a clinical position, I am gaining a lot of knowledge from reading the "blog". It is a little hard to discern what is the truth and what is written to help someone's hidden agenda.
Perception is your reality but you have to remember that it is just that - - - your reality. It may not be the true reality. I try to form my own opinions and decide what is right.
Even with the problems that Dr. Dan has brought to our attention, the hospital is still a first-class hospital and I am proud to be a part of it. Can things be better - yes! However, can't that be said of everything in life. I agree some things need to be addressed and worked on.
Is the relationship you have with Administration and/or Board so bad, that you can't all sit down with a non-involved meditator and try to come to a mutual willingness to work together? Seems to me that would be the 1st step in making things better. However, as I have told my children, it can't always be your way. Sometimes you are wrong (and I am not just speaking to Dr. Dan here) and you have to honestly search within yourself to answer your inner voice and do the right thing.
The sad part about this blog is the destruction it is causing internally among employees. I believe both sides care about the hospital and that it continues to grow. Each side may have a different reason for that desire but I believe the desire is there for both.
To Dr. Dan, I would like to ask that when an employee seeks you out and complains about an issue, don't automatically assume that they are correct in their perception. Seek the truth and then make your decision.
To Administration, I would ask that you not be so one-sided, you need to search that inner voice in you and determine if there are areas that you can improve upon and then do it.
In closing, I would like to remind each of you of a popular phrase that was used several years ago. WWJD - What Would Jesus Do? Ask yourself this question? Your inner voice will help you get your answer.
Runawaydoc - as a person with a couple of serious medical problems, therefore years of shock and dismay at the greedy concept of for-profit healthcare, I was in complete agreeement with your post. I blogged about it similarily today http://letterfromnewalbany.blogspot.com/
Walmart has not cut out the middle man. Walmart has relentlessly controlled costs.
Anon 7:02,
Walmart has indeed cut out the middle man. Your local store(of which precious few are left)cannot not afford to buy a whole truckload from one manufactor. A wholesale distributor will buy truckloads from various sources, warehouse them and then ship mixed products to local stores as they need them. Walmart controls their own distribution.
runawaydoc tou know why people had to go to health care plans? Because working people cannot afford to go to doctors anymore because of these crazy prices they charge, Sure it cost a;ot of money to go to the hospital but look at the overhead the employees and thier malpratice insurance premiums. So I would quit trying to knock everyone and spend my time trying to cut cost and help your friends the patients. It seems as though everyone is making to much money except the POOR DOCTOR
Anon 8:37,
What does your health insurance cost? If you are retired, what did it cost when you were employed?
runawaydoc,
Example #1
Posted charge $100. Insurance reimbursement $50. This after filing forms, waiting for the money to come from the insurance company(30 days?) and possibly having to refile because a box was checked wrong.
Example #2
Posted charge $100. Self pay patient. Pays cash at time of service. 30% discount. $70.00
You make $20 more(&sooner) and do(your office)a lot less work. Something is wrong with this picture.
It is true Walmart has very efficient distribution, but so do many other big retailers. Walmart's success has come from using it's market power to dictate prices it pays its suppliers. Believe me, Walmart's supplers are saying alot of the same things about Walmart as these MDs are saying about the big insurers.
Sorry runawaydoc You must not be my doctor because I go to the doctor every 3 months as well as my family and I can honestly say NONE of us has ever seen ANYONE sitting in a doctor office with a sack of tomatoes. And I bet if the blog would take a poll there wouldn't be many that saw tomatoes either. You are one in a million. The only thing I see them holding are there wallets.
Thanks for expanding on that, runawaydoc. I think that I understand what you are saying.
Runawaydoc, I am curious what your office visit fee was when you took the bag of tomatoes. I am soon going to have a truck load of watermelons and maybe a 1/2 truck of tomatoes, wonder if you would be willing to make a trade.
Gosh, a $32. fee for an office visit. I bet you wouldn't have any problem with Medicare and the Insurance Company's with that charge. I wonder what year this was and what precent increase has occurred since that time? I also bet that $32. visit included blood tests, urinalysis, ect. I also bet that you also had employees and the same overhead that is seen today. I read on this "blog"
that many times you had to remit the paperwork to an Insurance because maybe a wrong box was checked. When I was employed if a wrong box was checked more that once or twice, our employer replaced that person with someone that knew the importance of doing a job right the 1st. time. My, my how times have changed. BTW were you making a 45% profit. I would bet NOT.
Two very "interesting" assertions on this thread -- if insurance companies left setting prices up to the MDs healthcare costs would drop, and MDs would be happy to take tomatoes in exchange for office visits but the managed care companies won't let them.
To the last anonymous posting.
If you believe the assertions
that you read on this Thread.
You also could believe that the
Devil is sending out for blankets, because there is a cold spell in HELL!! LOL
runawaydoc Let me get this straight an office vist is $150.00 But if a patient pays cash it could be lowered to (99212) $25.00? Could be and would be are two different things. If you think patients are that gullible I think you need to go back to school. If HB complains he is only making a 45% profit How could he make it at $11.25 per visit??????
Dear Healthblogger,
I am quite bothered by what I saw at Floyd Memorial Hospital this past Sunday (7/23). While visiting a relative on the 2nd floor I noticed that there was only 1 aide on the unit trying to take care of every patient. I know the unit was almost full because I saw the board they write names on at the nurse's station and it was nearly filled up. My relative didn't get help with breakfast until nearly 10am, which is totally unacceptable to me. I saw call lights staying on for long periods of time of time without being answered. The aide was doing her best to attend to everyone's needs, but it was obvious she was overloaded. The nurse's were doing their best to help her, but they were getting behind in their duties as well. I finally asked a couple of young ladies on staff what was going on and I was assured that staffing was adequate. Obviously they were not. I would hate to think staff is being told to lie to visitors. In any case I saw enough to decide that we will no longer use Floyd Memorial Hospital until noticable improvements occur. I feel that patients are not in a safe environment with so few staff members. I hope you will read this and espress your views on this.
Dear 10:47 post,
I too was at Floyd on 7/23 visiting a friend on the 3rd floor.I don't know what was going on the second floor but he was telling me what excellent care he was receiving from the Rn's and Na's.If I ever need surgery I will choice Floyd before anyone else.So don't judge Floyd for the second floor.Instead you need to find out what was going on with the staff.I know 3rd floor had staff everyone was working very hard.
I would also suggest contacting hospital management about your concerns for two reasons: First, they always seem eager to learn of real or perceived problems so they can address them. Secondly, the situation may not have been as it appeared to you and you should give them a chance to explain if there is an explanation.
I want to say thanks for the two comments to my posting about Floyd Memorial concerns, however, my comments were apparently misunderstood. The staff I saw on the second floor were doing VERY EXCELLENT in performing their duties under the circumstances. They were pleasant, kind and very caring. I only judge Floyd Hospital because they control the staffing at hand. Prehaps it was a bad day and somebody called in, but as big as the hospital is I would have thought they would have had someone to fill in. I would like to keep using the hospital if we get sick. It just concerns me that their people are being stretched out more than necessary. I'm glad the third floor was ok, but, as I understand, it's for people having surgery. If you're not hospitalized for surgery then you don't go to the third floor. My relative will be in the hospital for a few more days and I will see how things go. Maybe they will be better, afterall, it was the weekend and it's sometimes hard to get people to work then.
I would like to thank everyone for the comments.
This forum is being read by the administration and the comments will help correct some of the problems.
Now if only the Board members and Commissioners would take time to read some of these comments, we may be able to fix a few other problems
I am employed at FMHHS (and not in management). While I'll be the first to admit that things have changed over the years at Floyd and there are some financial concerns, I feel Floyd Memorial Hospital still has a great bunch of people. Before the new section was built I can remember employees, patients, and the general public constantly talking about how great it was to see the progress happening at Floyd. Everyone was excited that the hospital was going to have open heart surgery and be able to compete with the hosiptals in Louisville. We were going to have a "state-of-the-art" facility once completed, yet now that it has become a reality and it, unfortunately, hasn't taken off quite as fast as everyone thought, the same excited staff, patients and public have become the most critical of the expansion. Has everyone forgotten that new things don't always get off the ground immediately? Sometimes it takes more time to get used to it. It doesn't help morale when people put down where you work. If those that are so critical are such experts, then I'd like to challenge them to take over the problem and resolve the issues at hand. I don't necessarily agree with the administation's decisions on some of the cuts they're making, but if it gets too bad I always have the choice to go elsewhere. Until then, I would like to go to work when scheduled without hearing constant critizism about Floyd Memorial. The hospital has been around for 50+ years and I don't think anything is going to shut it down. I feel one of the best resolutions would be for everyone (doctors, staff, patients, public) to start talking more positive about the hospital and the things it has to offer. Meantime, administration could maybe ease up on some of the cutbacks, reinstate incentives that make staff want to work and start working on slowly and gradually increasing staff again. There are times when people can't work because of illness or family emergencies and it gets next to impossible to get someone to come in at the last minute. That's nobody's fault. That is where incentives can come into play at times. Lastly, quit being so critical of the Healthblogger. He is entitled to his opinion just like those of us that choose to respond to the postings. it's good to have a site where we can all vent and voice our concerns. I'd like to challenge everyone to remember "teamwork" and stick together to make Floyd as great as it can be.
On behalf of physicians......in their defense I must say they deserve every penny they get. Yes, they choose to be physicians but they didn't choose for the government and insurance to tell them how to practice medicine. They didn't choose to pay what they did to go to med school. They didn't choose to pay the outrageous malpractice costs that they do. Have you ever thought about the hours they devote to medicine? I could go on and on but hopefully you get my point.
Go ahead, cut their pay........it's called Socialized Medicine and see what you get.
Our Canadian neighbors can attest to that. Think healthcare is bad now??
No, I am not a physician. I am a nurse and have the highest respect for the majority of our physicians.
It amazes me how cutbacks always seem to end up in the Nursing Departments, not just at Floyd but in other hospitals as well. Nursing is the frontline of patient care! Every hospital I've seen has so much waste throughout the entire hospital and it never gets addressed. I just don't understand why nursing takes all the cuts! What a shame nurses will not band together! They cross-train in other areas which should make them even more valuable, but when the ax drops you can bet nursing will feel the cut!
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