Understanding trends in today’s workplace is essential to professionals in the case management industry. Knowing the value of your services and where others in your profession stand provides insight into the tools and professional requirements you need to compete in our complex health care system. Taking five minutes from your day to complete the 2008 Salary and Trends Survey will help our entire industry understand its differences, similarities and intricacies. The survey is located at www.caseinpointmagazine.com. Just click on the icon on the upper left-hand corner and you will be doing a valuable service to professionals like yourself.
To develop the 2008 Salary and Trends Survey, the editorial staff at Dorland Health scoured feedback from the 2007 Survey, discussed important points with a wide range of professionals across the continuum of care, and worked internally to develop a comprehensive questionnaire — all directed toward learning more about the challenges, trends and issues impacting the practice. Regardless of where you practice, your responses will help professionals in both our own and related industries to better understand what case managers across the continuum are doing.
An example of the importance of this document presented itself a few weeks ago, when I received an e-mail from a case manager who works in a hospital setting. This individual e-mailed me because she and her fellow case managers were searching for ways to negotiate with their administration for higher salaries. In her hospital, she said, case managers are paid lower than floor nurses. Why? Because they are not viewed as revenue-generating staff, but as a part of management who are salaried and not eligible for overtime — despite the incumbent need to work overtime and weekends due to the high workload and demands of the job. In my reply to her, I urged her to take time to gather information that demonstrated the outcomes they achieved. I also recommended that she download the 2007 Salary and Trends Survey so that, when they meet with upper management, they can share data that exemplifies their value.
As this is our second consecutive Survey, we hope to provide a rich comparison between these annual measuring sticks. We hope to draw conclusions that will help the grassroots case manager think about the direction his or her career is going. And we hope to help those in management better understand the trends occurring across the country so they can develop programs to empower their staff and help them stay informed.
So don’t delay. For the strength of the practice, go to www.caseinpointmagazine.com and take a few minutes to help lead us all in a more enlightened direction.
Have a great week!
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
