Human Resources

Ringing in a new year brings new requirements for employers managing their workplace drug and alcohol screening programs. From state-specific laws to changes at the federal level, it is critical to understand these changes and make the appropriate internal adjustments to ensure your compliance.

State Laws

Several states, and one city, have new laws that employers must comply with here in the new year. Below is a summary of the significant changes:

Illinois

I recently attended a Healthcare Talent Symposium with a group of organizational leaders in the healthcare industry and had the unique opportunity to hear from both speakers and participants about their most significant concerns, challenges and struggles in talent acquisition today. One thing stood out above the others, and it’s something every HR leader and team member faces: workforce planning.

Disruption is the new normal. We face disruption from economic changes, new working styles, technology — every aspect of work has either been a disruptor or been disrupted, and talent management is no exception. 

All healthcare providers are powered by their belief in access to quality care for all. But even as technology brings us closer together, many patients continue to face insurmountable barriers such as high costs and lack of available care.

As we head into 2020, what other challenges face healthcare, and what steps can we take to overcome them? Luckily cultural changes and the continued integration of technology can lay some of the groundwork for transformation.

Reasonable suspicion drug testing has long been a common practice and useful tool for enforcing drug-free workplaces. It’s a fair and reliable testing method that can both dissuade and detect drug and alcohol use. It’s also an issue of Individual privacy versus an employer’s responsibility for maintaining a safe workplace. With the trend of new laws (marijuana, etc.) impacting when or under what circumstances employers can conduct a drug test, the role of reasonable suspicion has never been more critical than ever before.

Healthcare has been trending toward standardized care, but the thought is often met with skepticism and concern regarding “cookbook medicine.” “When care standardization first started in the '90s there was a great deal of resistance,” says Dr. Kate Tulenko, CEO of Corvus Health.

Today’s workforce is more age-diverse than ever before. Age is often the forgotten demographic, but maintaining workforce diversity means hiring multi-generational employees.

As in every industry these days, healthcare organizations are being touched by the influence of artificial intelligence. In fact, AI is projected to become a $190 billion industry by 2025. So what are some of the changes we can expect to see, and what steps can healthcare HR teams take to prepare?

The 2019 American Society for Healthcare Human Resources Administration (ASHHRA) Conference took place this past week in the Windy City of Chicago, Illinois. This year’s theme was “Connect. Innovate. Transform.” In the midst of constant change in the healthcare field, fostering professional connections is more important than ever before. Sarah Fredrickson, ASHHRA President, discussed how healthcare HR must lead an engaged workforce to innovate.

Compassion is a ubiquitous human trait, and it goes by a lot of names. One such iteration has the power to decide the fate of healthcare professionals everywhere: bedside manner. Patients want the doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals they interact with to be engaged, understanding and good at listening. Anything short of that can have negative repercussions for the patient.