Jennifer Garces de Marcilla
Healthcare Cybersecurity: Securing Your Digital ...

Cyberattacks targeting the supply chain are an increasingly prevalent threat in the healthcare industry, especially as the modern healthcare supply chain contains significant digital elements, such as the patient engagement vendors that provide public-facing digital tools. These third-party apps and patient-facing tools process sensitive patient data and connect with a healthcare organization’s source systems on the supply chain. As such, they are tempting targets for cybercriminals, who can sell this data on the black market or lock it up with ransomware until they are paid.

Healthcare Cybersecurity: Securing Your Digital Supply Chain & Patient-Facing Tech
Jennifer Garces de Marcilla
The Role of mHealth Solutions In Patient ...

Patient education is about more than simply spreading knowledge about the disease. It can also empower patients to better live with their condition and avoid complications–an approach known as therapeutic patient education[¹]

The Role of mHealth Solutions In Patient Education
Guest Post
How to Increase Patient Adoption of Digital ...

Digital technology can do wonders when it comes to streamlining the work of delivering efficient quality care to patients. The use of patient portals, EHRs, mhealth apps, and wearable tech can all empower patients to be more active in their healthcare, get faster treatment, and access preventative care earlier on. But with all the capabilities of modern technology, we find that many patients are slow to adopt digital tools. If this is the case for your healthcare organization, we recommend the following tips to increase adoption.

How to Increase Patient Adoption of Digital Tools
Guest Post
Technology Integration Challenges in Connected ...

Technology has a lot of potential to improve efficiency and health outcomes in the complex practice of healthcare, from time-sensitive interventions in the hospital environment to long-term preventative measures among patient populations. Diagnostics, data management, patient engagement, and personalized medicine all stand to benefit from greater technology integration in a holistic, connected care model. Despite this, there are many hurdles that prevent technology from being adopted as quickly or effectively as it could be. Let’s take a look at the challenges contemporary healthcare organizations face.

Technology Integration Challenges in Connected Care
Guest Post
The 7 Essentials Steps For a Secure Patient ...

Healthcare services are meeting patient demand by becoming increasingly digitized. These digital healthcare services are often developed by third parties and access electronic health records (EHR), revenue cycle management (RCM) systems, and other databases that include sensitive and legally protected information. While these electronic services are beneficial to both patients and providers, they create an increasingly complex software supply chain, with more potential vulnerabilities that are being targeted by hackers[¹]. Healthcare providers can find it difficult to manage effective oversight of these supply chains - including the relationships between different software tools, who has access to what data, and where there might be potential weaknesses.

The 7 Essentials Steps For a Secure Patient Portal

Human Resources

The staffing mistake your health center can no longer afford to make

The staffing mistake your health center can no longer afford to make

6.4 million people have been enrolled in coverage through the federal insurance marketplace for 2015.  Consequently, the nation’s uninsured rate has dropped to historic lows, especially in expansion states and these states are spending less on health care for their uninsured.  Many Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC), for the first time, are experiencing competition for their patients who were previously uninsured.  As they look to gain efficiencies and cut costs, there is no greater cost than labor.

Life without HR Guidance

Life without HR Guidance

During a recent trip I found myself with a few leisurely moments and fired up the in-flight Wi-Fi and read several exchanges taking place on LinkedIn over a reprint on April 9, 2014 of a Wall Street Journal article titled, “Companies Say No to Having an HR Department.” The crux of the article was to spotlight some larger companies opting to eliminate their Human resources departments making front line managers responsible and accountable for those HR functions specific to their employee group. The article cites the benefits of pushing matters to the heart of the organization and one spotlight company cites that their managers only have to spend about 5% of their time on matters directly related to HR. The article itself was balanced by providing reasons why not having HR might not be such a great idea. 

Follow YOUR Yellow Brick Road

Follow YOUR Yellow Brick Road

Recently I had the pleasure of attending sessions at the HR Florida Annual Conference in Orlando, where the speakers referenced following their yellow brick road and how that allowed them to attain their personal and organizational goals. I have worked with several health centers and watched how leaders, including me, often know what they want at the end of their yellow brick road but allow their wicked witch to prevent movement that detours them from reaching Oz.

FQHC Hiring Tips: The Do's and Don'ts of Reference Checks

FQHC Hiring Tips: The Do's and Don'ts of Reference Checks

In my last post, we discussed the need for organizations to have properly written policies and procedures regarding the provision of reference information on former employees to protect the employer, the former employee, and other employers from potential litigation. In this post, I will discuss the business of obtaining and providing references and how to avoid putting your organization at risk.

Why Name, Rank, and Serial Number Reference Policies are a Double-Edged Sword

Why Name, Rank, and Serial Number Reference Policies are a Double-Edged Sword

Organization leaders and Human Resources professionals are often challenged by walking the tightrope of when to share information about former employees and when to stick to facts providing only dates of employment, title, and wage. As a result many organizations have policies that closely define those who are approved to release employment information and what information they are allowed to release regarding a former employee.

Job Descriptions as Performance Appraisal Forms… The Ideal Solution

Job Descriptions as Performance Appraisal Forms… The Ideal Solution

Performance appraisal may well be the most despised management process around, and often for very good reasons.  Most performance appraisal forms are only marginally relevant to an employee’s job, and the results of the process itself yield very little – perhaps a token difference in a raise for a “higher performer” over a “lower performer;” but even these distinctions are often criticized by employees because of assumptions concerning how “tough” one supervisor is over another.  Simply put, the link between actual performance and actual executive or employee compensation is frequently tenuous at best.

“The NLRB said what? We were certain our Human Resources functions were legal”

“The NLRB said what? We were certain our Human Resources functions were legal”

Do your policies and/or employee handbook forbid your employees from sharing information about their own wage and benefit packages with other employees? If so, it’s important to note that the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) has a different opinion and your health care facility might be found in violation by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). As a consultant providing services to health care organizations on matters of human resources and health care compliance, I often find employers with policies that put them at risk. 

 
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