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An educators' council that cuts costs
324
FINANCING
EXCHANGE
AN EDUCATORS’ COUNCIL THAT CUTS COSTS ELIZABETH WOLFE Waldo County General Hospital, P.O. Box 287, Belfast, ME 04915 (U.S.A.)
In the rural area of mid-coast Maine, a small group of resourceful educators has created an organization that has saved their institutions thousands of dollars in education costs. Given the present restrictive financial climate of hospitals, that is no small accomplishment. This saving has been made possible primarily by the brainstorming activities of dedicated health educators interested in providing top notch educational opportunities. Through a combination of creativcommon sense and pennyity, pinching bargaining skills, a myriad of approaches have been developed and capitalized on in order to provide the most appropriate and cost effective educational resources. Coastal Health Educators’ Council Coastal Health Educators’ Council (CHEC) is a 14-member organization consisting primarily of small hospitals (25-100 beds) and community health agencies within a 75mile area in mid-coast Maine. In addition, two larger organizations a VA Hospital and Medical Care Development (MCD) have been actively involved in the evolution of the group and have lent their fiscal experience-related and suPport, particularly during the formative years.
The only criteria for membership are an active commitment to the provision of high quality health care and an involvement in some aspect of health care education in the midcoast area of Maine from Freeport to Belfast. Annual membership dues are $25.00 per organmembership ization. Individual dues are $25.00 per organization. Individual memberships ($10.00 a year) are available as well. Representatives to CHEC are usually individuals whose responsibilities include health professions’ education and/or patient education at their particular agency. For the purpose of this article, health professions’ education refers to the continuing education of providers of health care, while patient education indicates direct education for consumers of health care. The term health education will be used when both areas are involved. Groups that specialize in either type of education may find the activities of CHEC of interest. History and development The history of CHEC goes back to September 1971, at which time a group of administrators and health educators from local hospitals formed a group called the Southern Mid-Coast Health Council. Administrators and health educators met separately for the primary purpose of exchanging information among peers. The health educator group was given additional guidance and fiscal support from two larger state and federal organizations - MCD, a non-profit, grant funded agency, and the Veteran’s Administration
ii25
Hospital at Togus, Maine. Both agencies became actively involved in the group and encouraged its expansion and growth. The Council did exactly that, and in 1981, CHEC (no longer a subgroup but now a separate organization) was designated a regional council of the Maine Consortium for Health Professions Education. The Consortium is a state wide group whose purpose is to promote health professions’ education in Maine. Today CHEC is a fully incorporwhich meets ated organization monthly to share resources, discuss common issues and coordinate specific health professions education programs. Guided by a chairperson, vice-chairperson, secretary and treasurer, it is a cohesive and dynamic group whose core of about 10 people do much to promote optimal health care in mid-coast Maine. Purpose and activities The overall goals of the group are as follows : (1) Provide a mechanism for exchanging information among peers on a regular basis. (2) Create cost effective continuing education opportunities for health care providers. (3) Promote networking of all health education resources in the region. (4) Improve the quality of health professions’ education in Maine via participation as a regional council in the Maine Consortium for Health Professions’ Education. How are these goals accomplished? Much to the surprise of many of the Council members,
CHEC has been more successful in these areas than anyone thought it would be. Primarily responsible for this success are the brainstorming sessions that occur during each monthly meeting when most of the cost-saving ideas are born. The following is a description of activities that have been most successful. Profits CHEC has sponsored continuing educational programs in the areas that many professionals from member institutions have identified as critical areas (e.g. management training, Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS), pain management). Due to large numbers of participants, profits have generally been made on the programs presented. Since the with assist members council program planning (brochure development, continuing education credit (CEU) application, hosting the workshop, outline development), overhead costs are very low, program quality is high, and the attendance is excellent. Profits from the above programming are spent in the following ways : (1) Purchasing AV material to be owned by the Council and free for use by any member organization. (2) Subsidizing workshops sponsored by individual members of the Council. A workshop in nursing documentation was given by one institution. CHEC provided a minigrant that paid for one-half the price of the speaker and all CHEC members could send participants for a $5.00 fee. This was a savings of at least $50.00 per participant for all
326
CHEC institutions plus the sponsoring institution was able to send its participants for no fee. (3) Supporting less popular, albeit just as much needed, educational programs. Topics of these programs have included the use of audiovisual equipment and time management. Other cost effective activities devised by the Council have included: (1) Negotiating a discount price for all CHEC members with the state university that offers health professions education programming. (2) Arranging for all CHEC institutions to be able to apply for CEUs through the state nursing organization. Under one yearly fee paid by CHEC, all members of the Council can apply for CEUs for an unlimited number of programs. (3) Establishing an agreement with a company that gives a fetal monitoring course (mandatory in many institutions) to give CHEC members a reduced fee as well as one free slot for every six participants sent to its workshop. (4) An ‘expert exchange’. This is where instructors have taught a program they have experience in at other agencies. Not only does this give the agencies fresh exposure to different instructors but it also gives the health educator a chance to gain more experience in presenting his/her own programs. Professional support and sharing resources CHEC representatives attend monthly meetings. Time is set aside during meetings to discuss individual member’s upcoming projects, problems and concerns. Recently, when
one agency was planning to institute problem oriented charting at their institution, three other agencies which had recently done this provided much needed guidance. Lists of audiovisual software owned by individual agencies are pooled and free borrowing privileges are available for all CHEC members. Scholarships are provided for Council representatives to attend continuing education programs in order that either the information can be brought back and shared or the whole program can be sponsored by CHEC in the future. Other means of support include: (1) CHEC representatives are allowed to attend all CHEC sponsored programs free af charge. (2) Inservice programs in areas related to either patient education or health professions’ education are included regularly at monthly meetings. Past topics have included ‘Educator or Consultant’ and ‘Implementing Change in an Organization’. Networking On a yearly basis, CHEC sponsors a networking program. Any individual or organization involved in d health education of any kind is invited to attend for the purpose of sharing with the group health education activities they are involved in, identifying gaps/overlaps and brainstorming ways to most efficiently provide health education. Usually a pertinent educational program (e.g. ‘Marketing Skills’) is presented as well Therefore, not only does everyone’s knowledge of local resources expand but their personal level of expertise is enriched.
327
An example of specific benefit that came from this networking has been that one mid-coast area had identified a need for pooling local resources in health education (This area is the highest area of unemployment in Maine with thinly spread resources). As a result, a successful local health educators group has been formed. Maine Consortium for Health Professions Education The Maine Consortium for Health Professions Education is an organization whose goal is to promote the development of a coordinated program of health professional education in the state. Part of the membership includes regional councils, of which CHEC is one. The
consortium serves both to meet the needs of its council and to draw together the councils in addressing health professions education on a statewide level. Participating in this council allows CHEC to expand its ability to enrich health professions education at member institutions. In summary, a regional health educator’s council for health professions’ educators, patient educators or both, is an excellent way for institutions to pool their resources and decrease their education costs. Not only can it be a source of human resource development for the health educators themselves, but also a vehicle in which quality education for health professions and patients can be provided at a significant reduction in cost.
FINANCING
EXCHANGE
AN EDUCATORS’ COUNCIL THAT CUTS COSTS ELIZABETH WOLFE Waldo County General Hospital, P.O. Box 287, Belfast, ME 04915 (U.S.A.)
In the rural area of mid-coast Maine, a small group of resourceful educators has created an organization that has saved their institutions thousands of dollars in education costs. Given the present restrictive financial climate of hospitals, that is no small accomplishment. This saving has been made possible primarily by the brainstorming activities of dedicated health educators interested in providing top notch educational opportunities. Through a combination of creativcommon sense and pennyity, pinching bargaining skills, a myriad of approaches have been developed and capitalized on in order to provide the most appropriate and cost effective educational resources. Coastal Health Educators’ Council Coastal Health Educators’ Council (CHEC) is a 14-member organization consisting primarily of small hospitals (25-100 beds) and community health agencies within a 75mile area in mid-coast Maine. In addition, two larger organizations a VA Hospital and Medical Care Development (MCD) have been actively involved in the evolution of the group and have lent their fiscal experience-related and suPport, particularly during the formative years.
The only criteria for membership are an active commitment to the provision of high quality health care and an involvement in some aspect of health care education in the midcoast area of Maine from Freeport to Belfast. Annual membership dues are $25.00 per organmembership ization. Individual dues are $25.00 per organization. Individual memberships ($10.00 a year) are available as well. Representatives to CHEC are usually individuals whose responsibilities include health professions’ education and/or patient education at their particular agency. For the purpose of this article, health professions’ education refers to the continuing education of providers of health care, while patient education indicates direct education for consumers of health care. The term health education will be used when both areas are involved. Groups that specialize in either type of education may find the activities of CHEC of interest. History and development The history of CHEC goes back to September 1971, at which time a group of administrators and health educators from local hospitals formed a group called the Southern Mid-Coast Health Council. Administrators and health educators met separately for the primary purpose of exchanging information among peers. The health educator group was given additional guidance and fiscal support from two larger state and federal organizations - MCD, a non-profit, grant funded agency, and the Veteran’s Administration
ii25
Hospital at Togus, Maine. Both agencies became actively involved in the group and encouraged its expansion and growth. The Council did exactly that, and in 1981, CHEC (no longer a subgroup but now a separate organization) was designated a regional council of the Maine Consortium for Health Professions Education. The Consortium is a state wide group whose purpose is to promote health professions’ education in Maine. Today CHEC is a fully incorporwhich meets ated organization monthly to share resources, discuss common issues and coordinate specific health professions education programs. Guided by a chairperson, vice-chairperson, secretary and treasurer, it is a cohesive and dynamic group whose core of about 10 people do much to promote optimal health care in mid-coast Maine. Purpose and activities The overall goals of the group are as follows : (1) Provide a mechanism for exchanging information among peers on a regular basis. (2) Create cost effective continuing education opportunities for health care providers. (3) Promote networking of all health education resources in the region. (4) Improve the quality of health professions’ education in Maine via participation as a regional council in the Maine Consortium for Health Professions’ Education. How are these goals accomplished? Much to the surprise of many of the Council members,
CHEC has been more successful in these areas than anyone thought it would be. Primarily responsible for this success are the brainstorming sessions that occur during each monthly meeting when most of the cost-saving ideas are born. The following is a description of activities that have been most successful. Profits CHEC has sponsored continuing educational programs in the areas that many professionals from member institutions have identified as critical areas (e.g. management training, Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS), pain management). Due to large numbers of participants, profits have generally been made on the programs presented. Since the with assist members council program planning (brochure development, continuing education credit (CEU) application, hosting the workshop, outline development), overhead costs are very low, program quality is high, and the attendance is excellent. Profits from the above programming are spent in the following ways : (1) Purchasing AV material to be owned by the Council and free for use by any member organization. (2) Subsidizing workshops sponsored by individual members of the Council. A workshop in nursing documentation was given by one institution. CHEC provided a minigrant that paid for one-half the price of the speaker and all CHEC members could send participants for a $5.00 fee. This was a savings of at least $50.00 per participant for all
326
CHEC institutions plus the sponsoring institution was able to send its participants for no fee. (3) Supporting less popular, albeit just as much needed, educational programs. Topics of these programs have included the use of audiovisual equipment and time management. Other cost effective activities devised by the Council have included: (1) Negotiating a discount price for all CHEC members with the state university that offers health professions education programming. (2) Arranging for all CHEC institutions to be able to apply for CEUs through the state nursing organization. Under one yearly fee paid by CHEC, all members of the Council can apply for CEUs for an unlimited number of programs. (3) Establishing an agreement with a company that gives a fetal monitoring course (mandatory in many institutions) to give CHEC members a reduced fee as well as one free slot for every six participants sent to its workshop. (4) An ‘expert exchange’. This is where instructors have taught a program they have experience in at other agencies. Not only does this give the agencies fresh exposure to different instructors but it also gives the health educator a chance to gain more experience in presenting his/her own programs. Professional support and sharing resources CHEC representatives attend monthly meetings. Time is set aside during meetings to discuss individual member’s upcoming projects, problems and concerns. Recently, when
one agency was planning to institute problem oriented charting at their institution, three other agencies which had recently done this provided much needed guidance. Lists of audiovisual software owned by individual agencies are pooled and free borrowing privileges are available for all CHEC members. Scholarships are provided for Council representatives to attend continuing education programs in order that either the information can be brought back and shared or the whole program can be sponsored by CHEC in the future. Other means of support include: (1) CHEC representatives are allowed to attend all CHEC sponsored programs free af charge. (2) Inservice programs in areas related to either patient education or health professions’ education are included regularly at monthly meetings. Past topics have included ‘Educator or Consultant’ and ‘Implementing Change in an Organization’. Networking On a yearly basis, CHEC sponsors a networking program. Any individual or organization involved in d health education of any kind is invited to attend for the purpose of sharing with the group health education activities they are involved in, identifying gaps/overlaps and brainstorming ways to most efficiently provide health education. Usually a pertinent educational program (e.g. ‘Marketing Skills’) is presented as well Therefore, not only does everyone’s knowledge of local resources expand but their personal level of expertise is enriched.
327
An example of specific benefit that came from this networking has been that one mid-coast area had identified a need for pooling local resources in health education (This area is the highest area of unemployment in Maine with thinly spread resources). As a result, a successful local health educators group has been formed. Maine Consortium for Health Professions Education The Maine Consortium for Health Professions Education is an organization whose goal is to promote the development of a coordinated program of health professional education in the state. Part of the membership includes regional councils, of which CHEC is one. The
consortium serves both to meet the needs of its council and to draw together the councils in addressing health professions education on a statewide level. Participating in this council allows CHEC to expand its ability to enrich health professions education at member institutions. In summary, a regional health educator’s council for health professions’ educators, patient educators or both, is an excellent way for institutions to pool their resources and decrease their education costs. Not only can it be a source of human resource development for the health educators themselves, but also a vehicle in which quality education for health professions and patients can be provided at a significant reduction in cost.