The cover story of the August 20 edition of Business Week contains an important topic that is pertinent to the practice of case management, as well as the entire healthcare industry. The topic was “The Future of Work.” The author, Michael Mandel, discussed why Business Week addressed this topic. He notes: “The reason why Business Week chose this topic is because the U.S. and the global economics are coming to a crossroads that no one could have anticipated just a few years ago. Globalization and technology together are creating the potential for startling changes in how we do our jobs and the offices we do them in.” Some of the reasons for this are:

• Offshoring means work can be broken into smaller tasks and redistributed around the world.
• The rapid growth of broader, richer channels of communication — including virtual worlds — is transforming what it means to be ‘at work’
• Employers are hiring workers with higher education levels and jobs are demanding even more sophistication. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 34 percent of adult workers in the U.S. now have a bachelor’s degree or better, up from 29 percent 10 years ago.
• The modern workplace no longer resembles the factory assembly line, but rather the design studio, where the core values are collaboration and innovation, not mindless repletion.

So how does this apply to healthcare and specifically case management? If you are keeping up with the pace of change in today’s healthcare system, you know that trends point to more technology, innovations in practice, transparency, accountability and outcomes. More of the “routine” tasks like credentialing of healthcare providers and verification of benefits have begun to go offshore to countries like India, Malaysia, and other third world countries. More and more companies are going “virtual,” meaning that workers can work from home. Productivity is monitored virtually and training and developing is done through the company’s intranet. Professionals entering the workforce are younger, better-educated than many of their older co-workers, and expect to be challenged in their roles.

So how are you and your organizations coping with these changes? Have you seen a shift in how your organization works over the past few years, or is there talk of how things are going to change in the future? What is being done to retain employee and recruit new professionals to the practice? What challenges do you find working with the younger workforce? Are they engaged? Do they respond to the same incentives as more seasoned professional? What makes them tick? Share your thoughts with me and I will post comments on next week’s Across My Desk. You can email me at allewellyn@dorlandhealth.com.

All of us at Dorland Healthcare Information are working to keep pace with the changing world and provide tools, services, and products that stimulate, empower, and challenge you to be the best you can be both personally and professionally. Visit our site www.caseinpointmagazine.com to see what’s new!

Have a good week and thanks for staying connected!

Anne Llewellyn, RN-BC, MS, BHSA, CCM, CRRN
Editor-in-Chief of Across My Desk, Case in Point magazine, and the Case Management Resource Guide
allewellyn@dorlandhealth.com