Causes & Management of Stress for Healthcare Workers

Employers should provide a stress-free work environment, recognize where stress is becoming a problem for staff, and take action to reduce stress. Stress in the workplace reduces productivity, increases management pressures, and makes people ill in many ways, evidence of which is still increasing.

Stress and stress management are directly related to personal well-being and specifically to workplace well-being.

Causes of stress at work

1. Lack of effective communication and conflict resolution
2. Office politics and conflict among staff
3. Bullying or harassment, by anyone, not necessarily a person's manager
4. Excessive time away from home and family
5. Lack of job security
6. Feeling powerless and uninvolved in determining one's own responsibilities
7. Long working hours
8. Continuous unreasonable performance demands
9. A feeling that one's reward reward is not commensurate with one's responsibility
10. Working hours, responsibilities and pressures disrupting life-balance (diet, exercise, sleep and rest, play, family-time, etc)

Stress Management Ideas-

Here are some tips you can apply to reduce stress-

1. Brisk Walk and Self-Talk

Go for a short quick really brisk walk outside.Change your environment & breathe in some fresh air and smell the atmosphere. Trees, rain, flowers, traffic fumes - doesn't matter - stimulate your senses with new things.

2. Make a Cuppa

Any tea will do, but a flavored cup of tea is even better.Experiment with different natural flavorings using herbs and spices and fruit.

3. Humour

Humour is one of the greatest and quickest devices for reducing stress. Humour works because laughter produces helpful chemicals in the brain. Keep taking the laughter medicine until you feel suitably relaxed and re-charged.

4. Rehydrate

Go get a big cup or a bottle of water. Most of us fail to drink enough water - that's water - not tea, coffee, coke, 'sports' drinks, Red Bull or fruit juice. If you starve your body of water you will function below your best - and you will get stressed. Physically and mentally. You will drink more water if you keep some on your desk at all times - it's human nature to drink it if it's there - so go get some now.

5. Catnap or Powernap

Take a quick nap. It is nature's way of recharging and re-energising. A quick 10-30 minutes' sleep is very helpful to reduce stress.

Source - businessballs

Effective Tips For Better Revenue Cycle Management

To keep bottom lines healthy, organizations are turning to a process called lean revenue cycle management.

Here, Gallagher provides six tips on lean revenue cycle management.

1. Focused on the mission

In order to maximize the benefits of lean management, everyone involved in the improvement process must be aligned

2. Keep an eye on Changes

It is more important now than ever to keep up to date with latest legislative decisions,” Gallagher said.

3. Understand payer contracts

Gallagher says it’s crucial for those involved in the revenue cycle to fully understand payer contracts.  

4. Scope value stream

In lean management, a value stream defines all the activities — both value-added and non-value added — required within an organization to deliver a specific service

5. Information technology is not everything

Going out and purchasing what Gallagher calls a “magic” software package is not going solve the problem, revenue cycle management or otherwise.

6. Internal transparency

Gallagher said, “it is important to be transparent internally and to not point fingers or play the blame game, but rather to focus on what you can do to fix the process.”

Source: medicalpracticeinsider