Executive Summary - Central Columbia Hospital
From the Office of Peak Consulting (Team 5C)
Introduction
Central Columbia Hospital is a non-profit facility that has provided general medical and surgical
services to the surrounding community for 125 years. The hospital prides itself on maintaining
professionalism while providing compassionate and cost-effective health care services. Recently,
the hospital has economically stabilized. Currently, the hospital is dealing with an employee
relation’s issue because several employees violated HIPAA policies on social media. The
employees first discussed the patient’s diagnosis, floor number, and provided a depiction of the
patient. According to the Department of Health, HIPAA guidelines state that Protected Health
Information (PHI) is demographic or health information where a patient could be identified. This
conversation was a violation through stating the diagnosis of the patient. Also, the collective
amount of information could identify the patient. The second part of the discussion about
working conditions is protected concerted activity under the Wagner Act.
This violation puts the hospital at a significant legal risk and a possible decline in customer
satisfaction if it continues. This situation raises questions on how to handle compliance issues
within the hospital and employee satisfaction. The social media activity does not warrant
discipline because the code of conduct is lacking specific guidance on what HIPAA PHI entails.
A strategic human resources unit is essential to carry out the mission of the hospital, correcting
the current situation, and preventing future issues.
The Need for Investment in Human Resources
The situation depicted above illustrates the results of not having Human Resources (HR) as its
own separate function within CCH. It also expresses the problem of employee satisfaction not
being as strong as it once was. The employee survey indicates that 51.5% of employees have
considered leaving work during the past six months--a significant increase from last year’s
47.8%. This illustrates strong employee dissatisfaction, motivating them to engage in negative
discussions on social media. Their online discussion shows that there is no alignment between
employee motivation and the organizational goals identified by the CEO. An example of this is
her goal of achieving 90% patient satisfaction without developing a way in which employees can
attain this success. Finally, there is an issue with the Code of Conduct in that it does not
successfully define HIPAA or protected concerted activity; or acknowledge social media within
the policy.
The main issue that initiates the minor problems is HR currently performs as a subcategory of
Finance. If Human Resources had their own seat at the executive table, they would be able to
achieve cooperation with Finance and eliminate satisfaction and compliance issues. Right now,
employees express their concerns to the Chairman of the Board of Directors. Also, the
President/CEO is interested in altering the HR function to be more proactive rather than reactive.
If Human Resources were its own function, the hospital could develop a facilitator that would
take on the employees’ concerns and assist the President with compliance. Newer leadership
initiatives, threat of competition, and a lack of strategic HR function have put great pressure on
the employees at CCH, and are the drivers of the main issues involving employee satisfaction
and HR compliance. An individual Human Resources department will align organizational goals
to employees’ motivations which will increase workplace satisfaction while achieving
organizational success. A separate HR function will also expand on the compliance
responsibilities that will improve long-term success.
Proposed Solution
To respond to the current issues, we have devised two potential courses of action. Both proposals
advise the client to establish a more strategic HR function that reports directly to the CEO.
Conducted studies have proven that Human Resources, as its own function, contributes to 38%
higher productivity and 27% higher profitability to any organization.1 The Code of Conduct must
address social media and better define HIPAA violations. Lastly, we will abide by HIPAA
regulations and train employees to recognize PHI and maintain patient privacy.2 This is feasible
due to the revenue-producing service lines established by the CEO.
Our primary solution for CCH is to train the HR Manager on how to become a better executive,
molding him into the role of Chief Human Resources Officer. The intent is to strategically align
his new role with the organizational goals and educate him on compliance issues. The HR
Manager has been promoted within the hospital and holds a firm understanding of the
organizational culture. An internal solution would be more cost and time efficient than bringing
in an external professional but not as large of an investment.3 Promoting internally would boost
employee satisfaction by increasing perception of professional growth opportunities.
Our alternative solution is for CCH to hire an external candidate, a senior level HR professional,
who can act as the new CHRO. Adding this professional would invite diverse thinking to the
executive leadership team and provide expert Human Resources insight. They will have the
experience necessary to address the concerns the CEO identified: compliance, compensation,
hiring practices, retention, talent identification, and diversity. This would be a significant
investment in the long-term success of the hospital because Human Resources would yield
greater support to the workforce of CCH.
Outcomes
Integrating a strategic Human Resources department into the business model of Central
Columbia Hospital develops a positive effect that will last another 125 years. The unit will
address employees’ needs and increase their satisfaction, alleviating that responsibility from the
Chairman of the Board. The employee discussion groups give employees a platform for voicing
their opinions, but are ineffective if each employee is unable to attend. Refining the Code of
Conduct to clearly define HIPAA, including a social media revision, and training the employees
on how to protect private information will reduce the potential for violations. Building a stronger
HR function will be an invaluable tool for increasing employee satisfaction, improving the Code
of Conduct, and reducing legal violations. Whether the company decides to promote internally or
externally, a strategic Human Resources team will help align employee relations to
organizational goals.
Lear, Gary “Getting a Seat at the Table: New Perspectives for HR,”
[http://www.resourcedevelopmentsystems.com/documents/Getting%20a%20Seat%20at%20the%20Table.pdf], 2009
2
Walsh, D. J. Employment Law for Human Resource Practice, 4th ed. (Mason, OH: Cengage Learning, 2012) 589
3
Krell, Eric “Weighing Internal vs. External Hires.” HR Magazine, 60, no. 1 (July 2015)
1