Message for Members
What
a year this has been! It has flown by. I can't believe it is already November.
So much has been accomplished and many things are planned for next year to expand
on what we did in 2007. Your support and input over the last year was the key
in the Healthcare SIG's success. We appreciate all of you.
I hope you all have wonderful experiences over the next few weeks. As we in healthcare
know, the holidays bring a lot of sadness and joy to our patients and staff. We
all have stories to share. I would love to hear from any of you that have an uplifting
story to share for our December Healthcare Speaks newsletter. If you do
have something you feel would be welcomed by the membership, please send it to
me by December 8.
For the remaining weeks, we will continue providing free webinars for you to learn
and acquire additional PDUs. We have received many positive comments regarding
the quality of the webinars and the topics. As always, we are interested in your
comments and suggestions for future webinars. We do listen to what you have to
say and implement your ideas whenever possible.
The Healthcare SIG Board of Directors wishes you and your family a very happy
holiday season. We look forward to many more years with you as a member.
Michele Mills, PMP
Healthcare SIG
President
a Series of Live Webinars
Presenter: Kiron D. Bondale, PMP, MBA - SolutionQ Inc.
Date:
January 22 or January 23 · 2 PM EST
Cost: Free to Healthcare SIG members
PDUs: PMPs earn 1 PDU.
The Healthcare SIG and SolutionQ have teamed-up to deliver a series of three webinars offered over the next few months. The next webinar offered in this series is IT Governance: How to Prioritize Projects When Each One is Critical.
During the project intake process all projects are considered critical, all others never get approved. So how do you decide which "critical" projects are most critical? These decisions are typically made politically, emotionally or without consistency. The impact being poor resource utilization, frustrated resources, projects not aligned with strategic objectives and higher risk with lower ROI.
This webinar demonstrates a Balanced Approach to prioritizing initiatives. Projects affect many aspects of your business; all factors should be considered when taking on a new project. Learn the prioritization secrets of successful companies using a Project Portfolio Management mentality. These secrets can decrease risk, return higher ROI, optimize resource utilization and allow you to reach the maximum aggregate value of your projects.
In a memo to federal agencies, the Bush administration has raised the bar for complying with directives on implementing health information technology. The memo from Clay Johnson, deputy director for management at the Office of Management and Budget, outlines specific steps and associated deadlines for the Health and Human Services Department to achieve a green compliance rating from OMB. It tells other agencies to develop their own milestones and timelines by the end of November.
OMB
scores agencies’ performance on administration initiatives with red for unsatisfactory,
yellow for partial success and green for successful. Johnson’s memo notes
that all agencies were red in achievements and green for making progress on health
IT in the most recent quarter.
Read the complete article
U.S.
Comptroller General Discusses Fiscal and Healthcare Challenges
Presented
by the Honorable David Walker, Comptroller General of the United States. The
US spends more than any other country in the world on healthcare, at over 16%
of GDP and US $7,000 per head in 2006. Yet, US health indicators are disappointing:
life expectancy rank 23/30, infant mortality 26/30, potential years of life lost
23/26. The presentation highlights the structural deficits in the fiscal policy
specifically as it relates to rising health care costs. Read it to understand
the proposed actions that will affect the industry in the coming years, and for
background information to understand the driver behind the current discussions.
View
the presentation
During the 80 minute session, the panelists provided an overview of the restructuring of federal and state programs designed to identify and address waste, fraud and abuse in the healthcare industry, programs and policies providers could consider adopting, and steps that providers could take in anticipation of the changes in enforcement that are expected in 2008. Physician-hospital relationships were discussed as an example of how to prepare for the increased regulatory focus, including how to implement controls over physician-hospital contractual arrangements from an operational perspective.
Play the webcast
Healthcare
SIG Adding Practical PM Tips to the Web Site
The Healthcare SIG has partnered with Cheetah Learning to
publish select articles from their monthly Know How Network column written
by Michelle LaBrosse, CEO Cheetah Learning. Ms. LaBrosse is the author of numerous
books and has been selected by PMI as one of the 25 most Influential Women in
Project Management worldwide and one of only two women from the training sector.
Download
the Know How articles from the Education
web page. If you have any tips or articles you would like to share please
submit them to the education
team.
HIMSS®08 Registration Now Open
Plans are already
under way so mark your calendar to attend HIMSS08.
Hotels will fill up quickly so prebook now and get the hotel of your choice. A
payment is not required at this time - just a credit card to hold the room. The
credit card will not be charged anything until two weeks before the meeting.
Healthcare
Project Management Jobs
Senior
Project Manager - California
Blue Shield of California (BSC) is seeking a Senior
Project Manager to guide the development, implementation and ongoing support and
refinement of a sales force automation system. This position may be located in
San Francisco, Woodland Hills or El Segundo, California. This position reports
directly to the Director of Sales Administration and will work very closely with
the Sales Directors and General Managers of the Mid/Large group sector. This role
is primarily complex project management and process transformation. The Senior
Project Manager will drive high profile projects transforming processes in Mid/Large
sales and operations.
To view the full job description, please visit blueshieldca.com/careers
and look for job #5831. Please apply directly via the website. No phone calls
or third parties.
Director
of IT - Alaska
This is fast paced hard charging IT unit. It is a hospital
willing to purchase the best information equipment, because that is a key to the
facilities success. To show its importance IT is one of the six items in their
strategic plan. They need a top notch manager to operate the depart. Cost of housing
and living is reasonable in this area. Need a number of excellent years of experience
with at least 2-3 years in a hospital setting. Salary range 90-120K. Potential
10% bonus. Great benefit package. Moving expenses to 25K and potential sign on
bonus. Send résumé in Word format to cjhemacs@yahoo.com
or contact Dee Johnson, AVP of Recruiting at 903-882-0856.
Interested
in posting a position?
If you would like to post a position description in HealthcareSpeaks, please
email information to projects@pmihealthcare.org.
Industry
News
Microsoft Launches Health Care Platform
Microsoft's HealthVault is an online repository where consumers can store medical
information for free in an encrypted database, as well as decide what information
goes into the record and who sees that information. The Web site also uses HealthVault
Search, a specialized medical search engine, in an attempt to reach the mass of
consumers who use the major search engines to find answers to medical questions.
Learn
more>
HHS to Pay Doctors to Use EHRs
The US Department of Health and Human Services will launch a widespread demonstration
rewarding doctors who adopt electronic health records. Learn
more>
RHIOs Aren't Working, New Report Says
The development of regional health information organizations may not be effective
in advancing healthcare information technology, a new report by the Information
Technology and Innovation Foundation contends. Learn
more>
