Note from the speaker: Empowering revenue integrity professionals
by Stacey McCreery, MBA
A successful revenue integrity department depends on more than keeping up with regulatory changes. Revenue integrity’s critical work is done by people—highly skilled professionals working as a team to support the organization’s success. But keeping staff productive, focused, and happy is a different challenge than staying on top the latest payer updates. High turnover hurts the staff who remain, lowers productivity, and raises stress—and that leads to even more turnover. So, how can managers retain existing staff and attract new staff?
At the Revenue Integrity Symposium, October 15–16, in Orlando, I’ll be sharing tips on staffing and creating a positive work culture during the panel session “Securing and Retaining the Best Talent: A Panel Discussion on Creating a Strategy and Culture to Attract and Retain Staff.” I’ll be joined by Marijane Armbruster, vice president revenue cycle clinical support services, Indiana University Health in Indianapolis; Nicole Harper, PhD, director revenue cycle improvement at Eskenazi Health in Indianapolis; and Patti Medvescek, manager of labor analytics and benchmarking and program manager, system financial performance at Indiana University Health in Indianapolis. We’ll discuss what it means to have high turnover costs whether you’re a large health system or a rural hospital and the impact on revenue cycle, reimbursement, and collection efforts.
For organizations facing tight budgets and a competitive job market, it can be tempting to put off hiring new staff but that’s often a mistake. It’s easy to look at the numbers and say that we don’t have the budget to hire someone but sometimes you can’t afford not to hire. Leaving positions unfilled or asking existing staff to take on work they don’t have the bandwidth or training for leads to dissatisfaction and burn out. And that can lead them to seek new opportunities, taking their knowledge and skills with them. The costs add up fast, and the department can find that not hiring has cost it more than making an offer to the right person.
When you put people first it solves the budget problems. Your turnover is lower and as a result your costs are lower. Everything turns around so you don’t have to focus so much on every single dollar because it works itself out on the operations side. Instead of wasting more money on an endless cycle of high turnover, we’re able to invest in providing high quality patient care by having the right resources and investing in care.
During our highly interactive panel session, we’ll share real life examples and proven methods for retaining star staff and making your department the kind of place people feel truly lucky to work at. Lean in and join the conversation—we’re looking forward to it!
Editor’s note: McCreery is a former executive director for Indiana University Health and is now the founder and president of ROI Search Group, a leadership consulting and talent acquisition and executive search firm. Download this free presentation featuring McCreery, Medvescek, and NAHRI Director Jaclyn Fitzgerald sharing insight on career development and a sneak peek of RIS 2019.
NAHRI members get free admission to a special members-only networking reception on October 14, the night before RIS officially kicks off. NAHRI members attending this reception should RSVP online as soon as possible to reserve their space.
Professionals wishing to earn support from program administrators to attend the 2019 Revenue Integrity Symposium may adapt our justification letter proposal.