3 simple ways to get motivated
Getting and staying motivated can be tough, whether you are coming back from vacation, dealing with something you’d rather avoid or getting focused on a Monday. Not every day will be super productive, and there is no sense in punishing yourself because of it, but there are three great ways to get back on track.
One way is to take the simplest task and make it even simpler. For example, if you have to write an email, then focus on doing the first sentence. Make writing the first sentence your goal. It may feel ridiculously easy, which is the point: Once you write that first sentence, then you will likely have the confidence to begin on the second sentence, and so on.
Another approach is to think about being in bed, tonight, right before you go to sleep. What did you accomplish today? Did you feel good about what got done? What do you wish you had gotten done so you wouldn’t be worried about doing it tomorrow? Now you can stop imagining: It’s wonderful that you still have the day ahead of you and you can get things done now.
Lastly, work on your next task for only five minutes. It will be a focused five minutes, which means no multitasking. Set an alarm as necessary. Chances are that the five minutes will go by quickly and, if you like, you can set the alarm for another five minutes.
Our motivation is usually hampered by either inertia, like when we have taken a break, or by timidity, like when we are intimidated by a major goal. By using these three methods, you can move towards success and focus on the next small step towards your big successful goal.
Read the article.
Source:
Brown D. (21 February 2018). "3 simple ways to get motivated" [Web Blog Post]. Retrieved from address https://workwell.unum.com/2018/02/3-simple-ways-to-get-motivated/
Strengthening the Relationship between Education and Employers: Johnny C. Taylor, Jr., Appointed Chair of President’s Board of Advisors on HBCUs
From the SHRM CEO, here is his opinion on the newly appointed Chair of President’s Board of Advisors on HBCUs.
Johnny C. Taylor, Jr., SHRM-SCP, president and chief executive officer of the Society for Human Resource Management, was appointed chair of the President’s Board of Advisors on Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) at a White House ceremony today.
In accepting the volunteer advisory appointment to the White House Initiative on HBCUs by President Donald Trump, Taylor gave these remarks:
Thank you, President Trump and Secretary DeVos.
I appreciate the trust you have placed in me to chair the President’s Board of Advisors on HBCUs. It has been my life’s work to unleash talent — in all its forms, from wherever it originates.
As CEO of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), I work with employers across the country. No matter their industry, size or longevity, today’s organizations all share the same challenge — closing the skills gap while building diverse, inclusive, engaged workforces.
For each of them, the “War for Talent” will never end and, thanks to this incredibly strong economy we’re experiencing, it is now a way of life. And today, people are an organization’s only competitive edge.
Employers depend on our country’s educational institutions as a reliable source of the multi-faceted talent they need. HBCUs are a critical conduit for this talent. Every year, over 300,000 students turn to these institutions for their education and to prepare them for their careers.
This President’s Advisory Board can be the nexus between higher education institutions and employers. As a CEO (in both non-profit and for-profit businesses), a former Fortune 500 chief HR executive, and someone with over 7½ years of experience in the HBCU space, I am up for this very challenge.
At SHRM, we are the experts on people and work and on building powerfully diverse organizational cultures that drive success. SHRM’s 300,000 members impact the lives of over 100 million people in the American workforce. SHRM is also an experienced academic partner, currently providing human resources curricula through 465 programs on 354 college campuses.
By working together, across all sectors, the HR profession, HBCUs and this Advisory Board can strengthen the relationship between education and employers. This Advisory Board can facilitate this critical relationship and support innovations in work-based learning opportunities for HBCU students. And as the world’s largest human resources association, SHRM can work with CEOs to connect industry to the diverse talent at these institutions.
This Board has an incredible opportunity to highlight HBCUs as wellsprings of the diverse talent American employers want and need today. HR and education, along with the support of this administration, must move together, forward.
Read the article.
Source: SHRM (27 February 2018). "Strengthening the Relationship between Education and Employers: Johnny C. Taylor, Jr., Appointed Chair of President’s Board of Advisors on HBCUs" [Web Blog Post]. Retrieved from address https://blog.shrm.org/blog/strengthening-the-relationship-between-education-and-employers-johnny-c-tay
While Talk About Opioids Continues In D.C., Addiction Treatment Is In Peril In States
How is Washington handling the opioid crisis? Let's find out in this article from Kaiser Health News.
Opioids were on the White House agenda Thursday — President Trump convened a summit with members of his administration about the crisis. And Congress authorized funds for the opioid crisis in its recent budget deal — but those dollars aren’t flowing yet, and states say they are struggling to meet the need for treatment.
The Oklahoma agency in charge of substance abuse has been told by the state’s legislature to cut more than $2 million from this fiscal year’s budget.
“Treatment dollars are scarce,” said Randy Tate, president of the Oklahoma Behavioral Health Association, which represents addiction treatment providers.
It’s like dominoes, Tate said. When you cut funding for treatment, other safety-net programs feel the strain.
“Any cuts to our overall contract,” he said, “really diminish our ability to provide the case management necessary to advocate for homes, food, shelter, clothing, primary health care and all the other things that someone needs to really be successful at tackling their addiction.”
In just three years, Oklahoma’s agency in charge of funding opioid treatment has seen more than $27 million dollars chipped away from its budget — thanks to legislative gridlock, slashed state taxes and a drop in oil prices (with the additional loss in state tax revenue that resulted).
Jeff Dismukes, a spokesman for Oklahoma’s Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, says the already lean agency has few cost-cutting options left.
“We always cut first to administration,” he said, “but there’s a point where you just can’t cut anymore.”
The agency may end up putting off payments to treatment providers until July — the next fiscal year. Tate says that could be devastating.
“Very thinly financed, small rural providers are probably at risk of going out of business entirely — up to and including rural hospitals,” he said.
Getting treatment providers to open up shop in rural areas is really hard, even in good times, and more financial uncertainty could make that problem worse. In the meantime, according to an Oklahoma state commission’s opioid report, just 10 percent of Oklahomans who need addiction treatment are getting it.
That statistic is similar in Colorado. And as 2018 began, Colorado’s escalating opioid crisis got worse, when the state’s largest drug and alcohol treatment provider, Arapahoe House, shut its doors.
The facility provided recovery treatment to 5,000 people a year. Denise Vincioni, who directs another treatment center, the Denver Recovery Group, says other facilities have scrambled to pick up the patients.
Most of Arapahoe’s clients were on Medicaid. Autumn Haggard-Wolfe, a two-time Arapahoe House client who is now in recovery, worries the facility’s closing will have dire consequences, especially for people who need inpatient care, as she did.
“I feel like the only other option right now in therapy would be jail for people,” she said, “and people die in there from withdrawing.”
Arapahoe House’s CEO blamed its closure on the high cost of care and poor government reimbursement for services.
The mother of Colorado state lawmaker Brittany Pettersen struggled with addiction, and was treated at Arapahoe House. Pettersen says treatment centers rely on a crazy quilt of funding sources and are chronically underfunded — often leaving people with no treatment options.
“We have a huge gap in Colorado,” Pettersen said, “and that was before Arapahoe House closed.”
She is pushing legislation in the state to increase funding for treatment. But to get tens of millions of dollars in federal matching funds, Colorado lawmakers need to approve at least $34 million a year in new state spending.
That price tag may simply be too high for some lawmakers. But either way, she added, “It’s going to take a lot to climb out of where we are.”
Colorado did get new federal funds to fight the opioid crisis through the 21st Century Cures Act, passed in December of 2016, but it was just $7.8 million a year for two years — divvied up among a long list of programs.
Read the article.
Source: Daley J.,Fortier J. (5 March 2018). "While Talk About Opioids Continues In D.C., Addiction Treatment Is In Peril In States" [Web Blog Post]. Retrieved from address https://khn.org/news/while-talk-about-opioids-continues-in-dc-addiction-treatment-is-in-peril-in-states/
5 Tips to Improve the Employee Experience from an Employee Happiness Director
From SHRM, here are some helpful tips to improve happiness within your workplace.
Gone are the days of delighting customers at the expense of employees. Organizations today understand the value of employee happiness and are increasingly looking for ways to attract and retain top talent. This includes delighting employees at every touch point along the way from orientation and beyond.
And while this may mean something different for every organization, the following few tips may help to improve the employee experience, and if your employees are happy, your investors, customers and clients will follow.
Find employees who follow your north star. Hire employees who align with your core values. Our organization is mission-driven and focused on transforming lives. As a result, we look for good eggs who are driven by doing something for the greater good and leaving the world a better place. Big egos need not apply.
Prioritize happiness. Happiness means something different to every employee. Encourage your employees to find what makes them happy and prioritize that. Employee happiness is our CEO’s number one priority, so we held a workshop to design our culture of happiness together with input every single employee. We now measure employee happiness monthly and look for ways to delight our employees at every turn.
Ask and you shall receive. We constantly ask our employees about what’s working, what’s not working and how we can come together to build a culture of happiness through weekly, anonymous surveys. This provides leadership with valuable insights and empowers employees at all levels to help create an environment where we will thrive. Commit to delivering on employee suggestions that impact happiness when you can. You may not always be able to implement a suggestion but always ensure that the employee’s input is valued and was heard by leadership.
Be culturally relevant. While some may appreciate yoga breaks during all company meetings, others may want time off to volunteer with family and friends. Get to know your employees and understand what is truly meaningful to them. And always check back - life moves fast and personal priorities shift. Make sure your benefits and perks evolve to keep up with your dynamic population.
Give that gold star. It’s not all about perks. Offer work that’s challenging, acknowledge a job well done and reward employees in creative ways that are motivating to them. A company that successfully fosters a positive employee experience reaps the benefits in the form of enhanced engagement, happiness, productivity and retention.
Read the original article.
Source:
Andrade C. (4 December 2017). "5 Tips to Improve the Employee Experience from an Employee Happiness Director" [Web blog post]. Retrieved from address https://blog.shrm.org/blog/5-tips-to-improve-the-employee-experience-from-an-employee-happiness-direct
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The 10 Smartest Things To Look For In Every New Hire
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If you’re hiring a new member of your team, congratulations. You have a business that is thriving enough to need more hands. But be prepared, as the shortage of highly skilled workers means finding and retaining quality, creative employees, which can be pretty tough.
According to a 2017 Creative Group study:
• 41% of surveyed advertising and marketing executives say it’s challenging to find creative talent today.
• 52% of advertising and marketing executives say they are concerned about retaining their current creative staff in the next 12 months.
For any company, especially companies that do creative work, the people you hire are your most important asset. So how do you hire the right ones (and avoid the wrong ones)?
It can be easy to become overly focused on things like previous employers, degrees and awards — the stuff that may pique a hiring manager’s interest during the applicant-screening process. But in my decade of experience hiring people for our creative agency, I’ve learned that the key to hiring the right people is starting with a clear understanding of the attributes you want in a new hire: the values, characteristics, personality traits and beliefs that will make them an active agent, not a passive employee.
When you hire someone, you aren’t just adding a body. You are introducing a new element to your culture, your work and your skillset. They will become a conduit for your company’s vision and values, and they will influence — and be influenced by — the people around them, for better or worse. That’s why finding people with the right foundation is everything.
After hiring many roles, both successfully and poorly, I’ve distilled the 10 traits that I think are most important for a new hire — beyond their resume.
1. Hunger: Experience is important and necessary for most roles you hire for. However, you don’t want people who have already accomplished everything and are just looking to coast. The best people want to grow, no matter where they are.
2. Humility: Accomplishments are impressive, but they become less so if someone constantly brags about them. You want to hire team players who want everyone to get the glory (and don’t leave passive-aggressive notes in the kitchen about how the dirty dishes in the sink inconvenienced them). Also, look for people who understand the difference between humility and false humility. To quote C.S. Lewis, real humility is someone who “will not be thinking about humility: he will not be thinking about himself at all."
3. Intelligence (Intellectual And Emotional): Book smarts are good. Street smarts are better. Both are ideal. The best employees have not only the technical ability but also the intuition and common sense to get things done — without oversight — under what are sometimes very stressful circumstances.
4. Self-Awareness: Self-awareness is vital when interacting with other people, whether it’s clients, coworkers or colleagues. Understanding your actions and how they are interpreted and make others feel, is often the difference between being someone who is a pleasure or a pain to work with. The good news is this trait is pretty easy to assess in an interview.
5. Curiosity: An unknown source once said, “Knowledge is having the right answer. Intelligence is asking the right question.” To grow, improve and work more efficiently, you need people who are interested in challenging old paradigms, testing, experimenting and learning. That all comes down to interest and curiosity. Great hires will proactively ask questions and seek out information to make the right decisions or suggest new ideas.
6. Scrappiness: Our company was a bootstrapped startup founded by three broke 20-something guys, so scrappiness is built into our DNA. But it’s an employee trait that benefits any organization. You want people who can get stuff done when things aren’t easy, who can always find a way and who don’t need you to hold their hand.
7. Resilience: Failure and frustrations are inevitable in creative work — even on a daily or weekly basis. People who have defied odds, made interesting career switches or taught themselves new things already come equipped with demonstrated resilience. When you go through a rough patch, as every company does, you’ll be grateful that you have people who are willing and able to weather a storm or two instead of jumping ship at the first sign of difficulty.
8. Flexibility: People who are willing to embrace change, who can dig in and help others out — even when a task isn’t technically in their job description — are the secret to helping a company evolve. At our company, we have many people who’ve held several different positions, some of which span across multiple departments, in just a few years. Their flexibility and knowledge benefits each new team and makes us stronger as a whole.
9. Kindness: No one wants to work with an unpleasant person — even if that person is highly capable. Note, however, that being kind is different from being nice. According to Merriam-Webster, "nice" is defined as: "1. pleasant; agreeable; satisfactory. 2. fine or subtle. 3. fastidious; scrupulous." The same source defines "kind" as: "having or showing a friendly, generous, and considerate nature. Affectionate; loving." Being nice is fine; being kind is absolutely necessary.
10. Passion For What We Do: A truly successful company, no matter the size, is full of people who are invested in the cause, vision and values. Even if you’re a small operation without the same financial resources as your competitors, the only way to build a healthy, happy organization is to hire passionate people who share your vision.
To quote Shafqat Islam, the CEO of NewsCred, in the company's public culture document, under the "People" section, he writes: “This is the only thing that matters — we can screw up in everything else, but if we hire the best people, things will work out. A great team with a bad idea can still execute and make it work. A bad team with a great idea will fail every time.”
Read the original article.
Source:
Ritchie J. (6 December 2017). "The 10 Smartest Things To Look For In Every New Hire" [Web blog post]. Retrieved from address https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesagencycouncil/2017/12/06/the-10-smartest-things-to-look-for-in-every-new-hire/#30d66c776704
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CenterStage: Help Us Fill The Truck!
For this month’s CenterStage, we’ve decided to do something a little different. Due to the holiday season being in full-swing, we wanted to spread the love and joy that fills our hearts this time of year by sharing with you our involvement with Fill the Truck as a sponsor.
"One of the best parts of Fill the Truck is being there to deliver the donated goods to our awesome charities. The expressions on their faces and their gratitude, makes all of the hard work and extra efforts worth every second."
-Kelly Ackerman, Sales Operations Director at Frames USA
Our Part & Yours
Saxon invites our local community to come together in donating things like personal care items, toilet paper, winter clothing and bedding to fill up boxes. These items allow us a chance to give back directly to our local community. Then, we load the boxes up onto the truck, overjoyed with the sensation of giving back to those in need.
The truck delivers to all charities involved – such as The Healing Center, who offers practical, social and spiritual support to individuals and families, and the Children’s Home of Northern Kentucky, who focuses on providing a better life for abused, neglected and at-risk children – around the 21st of December, and every donated dollar goes toward buying needed items with no administrative costs.
A Brief Fill the Truck History Lesson
Fill the Truck began when the CEO of Frame USA, Dan Regenold, envisioned filling a 54-foot semi-truck full of supplies for a local charity. His idea flourished into a full-blown charitable operation, including a team of packers, donation collectors, marketing & PR professionals and more.
This year, the 2017 vision is to fill multiple trucks and provide substantial donations to each charity, partnering with several businesses and corporate partners, including Saxon.
You can read the full Fill the Truck history here.
Donate Today
Are you ready to take action and join Saxon for this charitable Community Strong event? Donations can be dropped off directly to Saxon’s local office or any one of the participating locations. Unsure of what to donate? Monetary donations are accepted and will be used to purchase items to help finish Filling the Truck. Happy holidays from Saxon and we look forward to “Filling the Truck”!
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Only 1 in 3 employees actually understands how their 401(k) works
Do all of your employees understand how their 401(k) works? If not check out this article from HR Morning on the statistics of about 1 in 3 employees that do not understand their 401 (k) by Jared Bilski,
When it comes to common financial vehicles like 401(k) plans, term life insurance, Roth IRAs and 529 college savings plans, most workers could use some education on the finer points.
In fact, according to a recent study by The Guardian Life Insurance Company of American, one-third or less of employees said they had a solid understanding of the most common financial products.
Problem areas
Here is the specific breakdown from the Guardian Life study on the percentage of worker that said they have a solid understanding of various financial products:
- 401(k)s and other workplace retirement plans (just 32% of workers said they had a solid understanding)
- IRAs apart from Roth IRAs (27%)
- Individual stocks and bonds (26%)
- Mutual funds (25%)
- Pensions (25%)
- Roth IRAs (24%)
- Term life insurance (23%)
- Separately managed accounts (23%)
- Disability insurance (23%)
- 529 college savings plans (23%)
- Whole life insurance (22%)
- Business insurance, such as key person insurance or buy/sell agreements (20%)
- Annuities (19%)
- Universal life insurance (19%), and
- Variable universal life insurance (18%).
Education vs. no education
One of the best ways to help workers garner a better understanding of their finances — and the financial products available to them — is through one-on-one education.
Consider this example:
The Principal Group compared the saving habits and financial acumen of workers who attended a one-on-one session the organization offered one year to those who didn’t.
What it found: Contribution rates for those who attended the session were 9% higher than those who didn’t. Also, 19% of the workers who received education opted to automatically bump up their retirement plan increases with pay increases, compared to just 2% of other employees.
Also, 92% of the employees who were enrolled in Principal’s education program agreed to take a number of positive financial steps, and 80% of those workers followed through on those steps.
See the original article Here.
Source:
Bilski J. (2017 January 27). Only 1 in 3 employees actually understands how their 401(k) works [Web blog post]. Retrieved from address https://www.hrmorning.com/only-1-in-3-employees-actually-understands-how-their-401k-works/
Top 7 401(k) questions employees may have
Interesting article from BenefitsPro about some of the questions your employees will ask about 401(k)s by Marlene Y. Satter
At the start of a new year, lots of folks are thinking about resolutions.
And, if they’re also thinking about saving for retirement, they may have realized they don’t know all that they should about their retirement plan—or they may simply have decided that they need to know more.
If that’s the case, they’ll have questions about their 401(k) plans.
And regardless of what kind of 401(k) education you or your plan provider may furnish, you’ll likely be hit with inquiries about various aspects of the company plan.
Here are the top 7 questions you may get from workers this year.
7. How do I manage my investments?
Employees will want to know whether there are online tools to track investments, access statements and change their portfolio holdings.
They’ll also want to know about educational resources, whether online or in group or individual sessions, so that they can do the best they can. If you don’t already offer access to a financial advisor to help them better understand what they need to do, this could be a potential plan upgrade—particularly since many people prefer interacting with a human being to relying on online tools, especially for educational purposes.
6. What kind of investments are available?
Particularly if they’re trying to educate themselves better on how to make their 401(k) investments perform at peak efficiency, employees will want to know what they’re putting their money into.
Which mutual funds does the plan use? What other options are available? Are there alternative investments in the plan? Managed accounts? Bonds? Individual stocks? Money market funds? Are there plenty of options available, so that the portfolio is sufficiently diversified?
And if they don’t like the sound of the 401(k)’s options, they might ask you about providing a Roth 401(k) instead.
5. How high are the fees—and can they be lowered?
Savvy employees will be concerned about the fees involved in the various investments in the plan. Even more savvy ones might push you to consider lower-fee investments, such as Class R6 shares rather than Class A and target-date funds, which have preset portfolios and should be cheaper.
They’ll probably also ask about the presence or absence of index funds, and question whether the plan provider engages in revenue sharing or provides institutional pricing on all funds.
4. When and how can I withdraw money from the plan?
In case of emergency—a death in the family, a serious illness or perhaps a less depressing need, such as a home purchase or the kids’ college education—employees might need to get their hands on some of their 401(k) funds. Does your plan allow that?
And if so, how? Is it a difficult process? Are only hardship loans allowed? How long does it take to get the money? Can employees continue to contribute to the plan after they take a withdrawal?
3. What’s the employer matching contribution?
Employees will want to know, if they don’t already, how much you’re going to kick in in matching funds when they start contributing to the plan.
Do you match 50 cents, for instance, per dollar up to a certain percentage of the employee’s salary? Say, 3 percent or 6 percent? Or do you do a dollar-for-dollar match up to whatever your limit is? Or perhaps you have a dollar limit rather than a percentage.
2. When am I vested?
Employees—particularly millennials, who tend to move from job to job with increasing frequency—will probably want to know how quickly they’ll be able to keep any employer contributions.
They probably already know that whatever they themselves contribute to a plan is theirs to take whenever they leave for a new job, but since vesting rules can vary widely from company to company, they’ll want to know whether employer contributions vest at 5, 10, 25 or 50 percent per year, or at 100 percent after a certain number of years.
1. What are the eligibility requirements?
New employees in particular will want to find out about this, but existing employees who perhaps hadn’t signed up in the past may also be checking on whether they work enough hours per week (for part-timers) or have been with the company long enough to start contributing.
Make sure that employees know what’s required for them to be able to participate—and if you don’t already have it, you might want to consider adding auto enrollment as a feature next time you modify the plan.
See the original article Here.
Source:
Satter M. (2017 January 03). Top 7 401(k) questions employees may have [Web blog post]. Retrieved from address https://www.benefitspro.com/2017/01/03/top-7-401k-questions-employees-may-have?ref=hp-news&page_all=1
SHRM Study: Health Care Remains Key Benefit for All Employee Groups
Check out this interesting article from Workforce about the most recent SHRM benefits study by Andie Burjek
See the original article Here.
Source:
Burjek A. (2016 December 1). SHRM study: health care remains key benefit for all employee groups[Web blog post]. Retrieved from address https://www.workforce.com/2016/12/01/shrm-study-health-care-remains-key-benefit-employee-groups/
5 Ways Employers Can Optimize the Value of Maternity Care for Employees
Original post benefitnews.com
For many employers, discussions with employees about pregnancy focus on one topic: maternity leave.
Yet, it is important to remember that length of maternity leave is only one of several important decisions made by an employee preparing for childbirth.
Expecting parents are highly engaged in selecting a provider and developing a birth plan — choices that will ultimately influence the cost and quality of care a mother and her child will receive. For younger employees, a pregnancy, whether their own or their spouse’s, may be the first significant contact he or she has had with the healthcare system, thus underscoring the weight attributed to each decision.
Maternity care is also an important issue for employers, as obstetric admissions are typically the single most common admission in commercial populations. Verisk Health’s normative database shows that on average, a maternity admission costs an employer upwards of $9,000, and pre-natal and post-natal care typically contribute another 20-30% of spend. When you consider that 6% of women between the ages of 19 and 44 have a child each year, the costs add up fast.
Given the importance of maternity care to both employees and employers, the question is how to optimize the value of the care your employees receive.
Understanding the value equation
High risk pregnancies and outlier cases aside, maternity care is a relatively homogenous condition category. However, there is substantial variability in cost. We have observed as high as 50% variation within costs in a single market for vaginal deliveries without complications.
Variations in utilization rates of certain procedures can also increase costs substantially without necessarily improving outcomes.
For example, here in Massachusetts, the Health Policy Commission found 50% variation in Cesarean section (C-section) rates among the top 10 hospitals (by number of discharges). This compounds the issue with hospital pricing, since C-sections can cost as much as 50% more than a vaginal delivery.
In addition to increasing costs, C-section overutilization can also lead to poorer outcomes. According to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecology, C-sections put the mother at greater risk of infection, heavy blood loss, and surgical complications while simultaneously increasing the newborn’s risk of infection, respiratory issues, and lower APGAR scores.
Elective deliveries and episiotomies are also areas of potential overuse, and their incidence rates can be tracked to gauge the quality of care delivered.
While the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists requires 39 weeks of gestation prior to elective delivery, research shows that more than one-third of elective repeat C-sections are not performed in accordance with this guideline. When these guidelines are not followed, newborns are more susceptible to respiratory distress syndrome, temperature regulation issues, high levels of bilirubin, and hearing, vision, and learning defects.
In addition to restricting elective pre-term deliveries, ACOG also recommends restricted use of episiotomies due to the increased risk of muscle tear, bleeding, and infection. However, data indicates that episiotomies are an often used routine obstetrical practice.
Other maternity quality measures reinforce evidence-based standards of care. To reduce a mother’s risk of pulmonary embolism after C-section, ACOG recommends the use of pneumatic compression devices or venous thrombus embolus (VTE) prophylaxis. Likewise, all newborns should be screened for early onset hyperbilirubinemia prior to discharge from the hospital.
Driving greater value: The agenda for employers
Maternity care presents an ideal starting point for value-based purchasing initiatives because it is high volume, clinically homogenous, and exhibits wide variety in cost and quality. While decisions in maternity care will always be driven by patient preferences, here are a few ways employers can help improve the value of care their employees receive:
1. Know the numbers. Analyze your claims data to identify the top hospitals that your employees use, the amount you spend at each facility, and differences in costs between the hospitals. Use the quality measures published in the Leapfrog Hospital Survey to benchmark performance against nationally recognized standards.
2. Spark dialogue with providers. Once you’ve assessed which hospitals provide the best value for maternity care, share your analysis with the most significant facilities. In our experience, several larger employers are using their data to enable more transparent, collaborative conversations. If your presence is smaller, work with a local purchasing group to make your voice heard.
3. Raise awareness among expectant parents. In parallel with sharing data with providers, develop a communication plan to educate your employees about their options. Developing a birth plan is one of the most actively researched healthcare decisions, especially for first time parents. However, the research can often be more focused on the amenities of the facility than quality and outcomes. Since patient engagement is so high for maternity care, it may be easier to drive behavioral change among expectant parents than it is for other health issues often targeted by employers (e.g., weight loss).
4. Champion payment reform. Several state Medicaid programs have adopted innovative episode-based payment systems to reward high-value maternity care. Forward-thinking employers can use model contract language from Catalyst for Payment Reform to help incorporate these types of strategies into their agreements with health plans. According to CPR, payment strategies such as bundled payment and blended payment (a single rate for any type of delivery) can help address the issues associated with overutilization in maternity care.
5. Consider reference pricing and incentives. Long term, employers may consider changing plan incentives to encourage high-value maternity care. For example, an employee might shoulder a greater share of the cost burden for an elective C-section if it is not medically necessary or physician advised. Since personal preference is such a factor in maternity care delivery, this concept will need to be handled with sensitivity.
In many ways, maternity care is a microcosm of the challenges in our healthcare system. We routinely perform “medical miracles,” particularly for neonatal care, and yet there is substantial room for improvement in routine care. By advancing value-based purchasing initiatives, employers can play a key role in helping improve the cost and quality of maternity care.