How Healthcare Works, LLC

A young adult male, Bob,  rushed up to the desk of the doctor's office.  Bob told the clerk that his dad was there. He knew his dad was there because his mom told him that his dad was sick, so Bob should not plan on coming over for dinner that evening. The young man demanded that the clerk let him see his dad.  He told her that he had a right to know what was going on with his dad.  Bob started getting very irate and told her that she better let him see his dad or he was going to sue the clinic.  The clerk just smiled and told him that was not possible.  She asked his name and said that she would check to see if he could go back to the exam room.  The clerk left for a few moments and came back and told Bob, that no, his father did not want him in the exam room. Bob was furious.  He knew about HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) from his own past experiences with doctors and nurses.  He remembered his parents discussing his treatment with his doctors and nu

I remember the time I got frostbite like it was yesterday.  I was in junior high.  I had a blue puffer jacket that snapped up the front.  I loved that jacket.  I left the house that morning, and my mom asked me, "Aren't you going to wear a hat?"  I told her I didn't need one.  The truth was that I didn't want to wear my hat. My mom had bought me this really cute knit hat with faux fur around the edge with matching gloves and a matching scarf.  The gloves had faux fur around the cuff, and the scarf was a plain knit scarf.  When I wore the hat to school, the kids on the bus made fun of me and asked me how many rabbits I killed to wear that hat.  I quit wearing the hat. I went to school that morning having convinced myself I didn't really need the hat anyway.  I had heard about frostbite, but I never thought it would happen to me.  I thought it was just something adults used to scare kids into wearing hats and gloves when they didn't want to. That November

My first shot at writing a book was about 11 years ago.  The book was to be titled, "Welcome Home," and its basic premise was that onboarding new staff during the first 90 days should be similar to welcoming guests into your home or community. The first 90 days is crucial to new hires, and to employers as well.  Up to 25% of new hires leave during the first 90 days.  Those hires could have cost healthcare organizations millions of dollars a year.  I contend that like any organization where someone is "new..." a workplace, a church, a community, a school... that it is the organization's responsibility to make the newcomer feel welcome. Let's examine the case of Pauline.  Pauline was hired by a health system to be a clinical researcher.  She had several years experience as a floor nurse, and she wanted to move away from floor nursing.  Her former employer was not able to provide her with opportunities to leave floor nursing, so she accepted the new position.

My first work from home experience was as a medical transcriptionist.  I initially began the position on site at the hospital. Then, the hospital decided that transcriptionists would be more productive and the hospital would save expenses on overhead if the transcriptionists worked from home.  Their assumptions turned out to be true.  Productivity did increase, and the transcription office was utilized for other purposes.  Even though I am an extrovert, at the time I really enjoyed my work from home experience.  I went to school full time during the day in a traditional university setting, and I worked full time at night.  I was able to do my homework on breaks.  Also, I didn't feel isolated because I had my classmates for my social experience.  Moreover, my coworkers and I had already developed a bond in the office and would get together for coffee or to take walks or to go shopping.  Our department director, furthermore, required the transcriptionists to come into the office at l

Some may say to be successful, three legs are needed on their chairs: time, talent and money.  Energy should be added as a fourth leg.  Unfortunately, rather than moving individuals and organizations toward success, bullying hinders success, leadership and growth.  Bullying wastes valuable resources like time, talent, money, and energy. Bullying Wastes Time Time is a valuable resource, and bullying wastes time. Thousands of hours are spent a year on school, community, and business anti-bullying programs.  Teachers, administrators, executives, community leaders, and even Congress spend time every year addressing bullying issues and receiving training to address bullying issues.  Moreover, when bullying does occur, time must be taken to address the issue whether the bullying occurs at a school, in a workplace or in the community.  Investigations, treatments and reprimands take valuable time away from other important activities. Bullying Wastes Talent Talent is human capital. Wor

I first remember learning about the domestic violence issue as a result of watching "The Burning Bed" TV movie starring Farah Fawcett.  An avid reader at the time, I also read the book by the same name.  The movie and the case, in fact, served as turning point for domestic violence victims and brought the issue into the light.  Francine Hughes was ultimately acquitted by using the insanity defense.  Her attorneys argued that years of abuse had affected her thinking and her judgement. As an undergraduate, I decided to delve into this topic a little deeper and actually wrote one of my research papers about the insanity defense.  I wanted to become an attorney, so this topic was of interest to me.  I learned that the insanity defense was not that widely used and actually was an ineffective defense in many cases. In fact, in order to be effective, the insanity defense would have to demonstrate underlying mental illness as a result of abuse. Like many people, I had wond

At nearly every job interview I have ever had, I was asked: "What are your strengths?" Then, "What are your weaknesses?" In this focus on our strengths, everyone is special, everyone gets a trophy era, we are led to believe that our strengths are what makes us great. We have to live in strengths, always be positive, always leave things in the right light, and never burn bridges and a million other cliches that we have accepted as part of not only our professional vernacular but part of our professional beings. We shudder when we are asked that inevitable question, "What are your weaknesses?" We have been told to try to choose something we can turn into a positive, something that will make us feel less ashamed, less vulnerable, and allow us to still focus on our strengths, build bridges, and make us look like somebody who maybe will fit in with that organization. Fingers crossed. This came to mind to me today as I read Tom Wolfe's essay, "The Me