An examination of employer-provided benefits in the health care industry

Organizations that depend on a highly-skilled, stable workforce must be attuned to the needs of their employees and provide adequate compensation and benefits that enhance job satisfaction and lessen job mobility. Hospitals, like other organizations that compete for hard-to-find workers, use both traditional and non-traditional benefits to attract and keep skilled employees. This nationwide survey of hospital human resource managers assesses the types of benefits offered to health care workers and gauges the perceived impact of those benefits on job satisfaction and employee retention. Survey findings reveal that certain basic benefits, such as health insurance, are provided to all hospital employees. Other benefits, such as signing bonuses and reimbursement of relocation costs, are used as inducements to attract individuals in hard-to-fill job categories.

Are hospitals facing a critical shortage of skilled workers?

A nationwide survey of health care human resource managers reveals that hospitals are experiencing a critical shortage of qualified job applicants in certain job categories. Computer systems personnel, registered nurses, pharmacists, and therapists are especially in short supply. Jobs that require only minimal training as well as those not directly involved in patient care are filled more easily. According to the survey respondents, shortages of qualified personnel negatively impact hospitals' operations in a variety of ways. To combat shortages of qualified job applicants, hospitals are employing a variety of tools to attract workers. Signing bonuses, above-market compensation, flexible work schedules, and myriad perks are being used to entice and retain qualified workers.

The short-term effect of low-dose radiation on intracranial germinoma. A pathologic study

A correlative pathologic and imaging (computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging) study is reported of a pineal germinoma in a 35-year-old man who died unexpectedly of massive pulmonary embolism on the 8th day during the course of radiation therapy after receiving a total dose of only 1600 cGy. A histologic study of the entire lesion in serial sections revealed no viable tumor cells. The tumor bed was composed of stromal elements with a variable degree of proliferation. The lymphocytic component of the tumor was unaffected by the radiation. This case provided a rare opportunity to show total eradication of tumor cells in a germinoma after a small dose of radiation and supports the notion, based on imaging observations, that histologically proven intracranial pure germinomas may be treated successfully with a much smaller dose of radiation than previously thought.

Managing health care costs: strategies available to small businesses

Although health care costs continue to rise at an alarming rate, small businesses can take steps to help moderate these costs. First, business firms must restructure benefits so that needless surgery is eliminated and inpatient hospital care is minimized. Next, small firms should investigate the feasibility of partial self-insurance options such as risk pooling and purchasing preferred premium plans. Finally, small firms should investigate the cost savings that can be realized through the use of alternative health care delivery systems such as HMOs and PPOs. Today, competition is reshaping the health care industry by creating more options and rewarding efficiency. The prospect of steadily rising prices and more choices makes it essential that small employers become prudent purchasers of employee health benefits. For American businesses, the issue is crucial. Unless firms can control health care costs, they will have to keep boosting the prices of their goods and services and thus become less competitive in the global marketplace. In that event, many workers will face a prospect even more grim than rising medical premiums: losing their jobs.