Well... We Got APower Hit

This is kinda bitter sweet for me. During one of my meetings talking about MRI and where we are and where we were heading I spoke of the idea of getting a UPS. I always worked on systems in Florida that had them, probably due to the number of storms they get. From my understanding they not only protect against surges but they provide a steady clean supply of power to the unit. We have always had some type of power flickers which are most likely power sags rather than surges but they can cause system problems as well. I was getting artifacts and certain errors at times related to power issues so I suggested getting a UPS. Only problem was it is big bucks, like in the ball park of 70,000. So the board did not approve of getting this despite being recommended by GE. Here is the catch though we are not covered for power related issues in our service contract. So to me it was rolling the dice before we have some real issues other than artifacts or system shutting down during a scan. Well guess what ....yes it happened and we were down for 3 days. I have not heard if we are being charged for these repairs but I can guarantee it is going to cost someone big bucks and we were not able to accommodate the hospital patients or ER patients during the time.

Started Marketing Again

Well... in efforts to drum up some more business in MRI, I have made a power point with some useful slides on pathology seen on MRI and might not be visualized on other modalities. I hope that this effort will spark some interest in some of these local referring physicians to order more MR. I do not mind going and doing this but the it has slowed down due to lack of money available to do so. We typically bring the office some lunch along with some goodies like pens and notepads (with our logo of course). This time I am also bringing custom made coffee mugs that are really nice. They are handmade and should be well liked. I am excited about getting out and meeting with these doctors and to tell them why to use my facility.

Ok...Last Post About Joint Commission..I Promise!

They have come and gone again and skipped my department and went to CT instead. This was a little nerve racking because the night before there last day they had said they were going to come over to CT and MRI since we do ISTAT for creatinine clearance on our patients. In fact the morning of, some of our hospital staff had called and said they were going my way in 30 minutes. After acting like a drill sergeant toward my staff all morning they did not come. I guess I like to be prepared and not have an inspection then the other way around. Have you ever dealt with Joint Commission and if so how was it?

Joint Commission....AGAIN!

I do not know what it is about saying Joint Commission is coming that bothers me so much. They were just here not too long ago and I had posted about it then and here we go again. They are now inspecting the lab and they do patient tracers which means they could come here! We use an ISTAT for patients who need a creatinine and that is kept in the lab. So that that means we are fair game. I feel I am still not over the "hang over" from them inspecting us just a few months ago. I am sure my department will do fine. I just get anxiety due to the fact that what if they do find something or worse several things wrong? The hospital would know and me being the lead makes me responsible. I just do not want to let the hospital down. I know we do a good job here but I am sure inspectors can find something anywhere they look if they try hard enough.....ugh!

Another semester

Still a lot of uncertainty around the work place with the merger taking place. My hospital is just working out the final details with merging with a larger organization. My hospital is making it sound like we will continue to run the same way. I will feel better after the merge and we are running for awhile. I feel just a little uneasy and hope they do not make us do more with less. On a positive note it seems we are picking in volumes for the time being and I hope it stays consistent. Will start on my marketing again soon and that usually picks up business as well.

End of the Semester

Well, this is it for a little while. This semester has been a little trying for me due to the fact of working as much as I do and adding pressures of school and still being a father of two girls. We are going through some big changes at work with the merger of another organization and the pressures of the economy slowing down patient volumes. I will get through this and finish my goal of getting my Bachelor's. I have enjoyed this semester even though I stayed busy. I did just go to my annual meeting and I believe my part presentation went well even though I had to show an 18 percent drop in our patient volumes.

Preparing For My Annual Meeting With Board

Since I started working here at my current facility I go to an annual meeting to talk about the year that has past and what I would like to see in the future. This year should be interesting because I am going to flat out suggest what are the expectations for MRI. We are currently working on old software and volumes have been flat for approximately 6 months. This has to do with economy I am sure, but we were also halted on a budget for marketing and every facility we are competing with are upgrading software. I am going to make the question where do we want to be in the future. I mean do we keep our old software and not try to tab into the market of new exams such as breast MRI? We could just work this machine to end of life and pay it off and try to make as much profit as possible. Another suggestion would be lets upgrade and get aggressive on marketing and even lower cash discounts for people with high deductibles or health care savings accounts. I can not make goals and suggestions if we are not on the same page or know what my expectations are.

Merge is really not the term I would use!

I had spoke about a possible merger between my smaller hospital and a larger organization in a previous blog and it is final! I have to say I am concerned. It was not a merge it was a buy out. I knew we had been looking at several organizations that had made offers and the one my organization had picked was the one I did not want. I do some moonlight work with employees that work for this larger organization and in fact their Chief MRI Technologist works with me from time to time. We happen to went to same school in Tampa and now we both work in Western North Carolina which shows what a small radiology world we have! I hear her struggles and they are the same I was concerned about as in previous blog. She really has little to do with staffing and budgeting or how her department works. I guess I better get use to it. I just have a hard time understanding that decisions are made in departments from people who never worked in them. There is an interesting show on TV about CEO'S going undercover in their organizations and doing jobs that their policies have influenced and always they come out of it showing how much they do not get it. They seem to be humbled by how the front line workers do their jobs. Well it is what it is and I will blog more when I know more.

New Changes in Marketing Plan

We have decreased the amount of marketing we usually do in the past year. This was most likely due to several reasons; such as, a new imaging director and decrease in funding due to the economic crunch we have all felt. We just had a meeting and now we are stepping up with marketing. I have always been an intricate part of this but now I am in charge of all marketing for MRI services at the hospital. We are a smaller hospital so my job is primarily outpatients, making it critical to reach the outside referring doctors. I like the idea of focusing on just MRI's when we go out because I think if we touch on all modalities at same time it can be overwhelming. I can not help to be a little nervous. If we go and devote all this time, energy, and money toward marketing and at the end it does not result with a increase of volume, I can not help, but feel partially responsible.

My Hospital Is Being Purchased/Merged

I work at a small hospital in Western North Carolina who will most likely be merging with a larger organization. There has been employee meetings on this topic and looks like it is most likely going to be happen. There is a guarantee in writing in our contract that no managers or staff will be losing their jobs. My organization states it is to "better serve our community" with resources we currently do not have. I started working here after working at a large university based organization and while that was a great learning opportunity, I have enjoyed the smaller setting. I hope we can merge with keeping our basic principles in hand. Our senior leadership has really let department managers make vital decisions pertaining there areas. This makes a huge difference in working in them. At my previous employment, senior leadership made all decisions on staffing and equipment and it can create an undesirable working environment. I hope we can merge and bring in needed resources while keeping the smaller hospital organization feel. Any comments on employees that have been through this would be greatly appreciated.