Credit Taken, Credit Not Due – The Ugly One of the most destructive of all management traits is the manager who takes credit for everything that their staff actually produced. Where things get ugly, is when the manager takes credit for something that they know nothing about. Staff sees that as a huge credibility gap […]

Those who were around in 1990, will remember … • “The Simpsons” is aired on Fox for the first time. • The demolition of the Berlin Wall officially begins. • The movie “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” launches. And, PowerPoint was officially launched on May 22, 1990, as a part of the Microsoft Office suite. That […]

The Thinker – The Very Good Almost every Monday, Peter Mazzola (our manager) would announce that while out riding his bike hundreds of miles that weekend, he was ‘thinking.’ Everyone would tremble because we all knew what that meant … something new was coming. However, the good news was that with Mazzola, it was always […]

Going to school is a lot of work. Going to college was even more effort. So when we confront our employees with ‘training initiatives,’ what do they think? “Great, more work.” One of the best ways to combat that attitude is to instill a sense of competition and/or fun into the equation. It can be […]

Please, will someone explain to me where the ‘social’ in social media is? A post on Facebook with a selfie? A 140 character splat on Twitter? An ill formed text message? OMG, where is the ‘Social’ in that? Really? The telephone is really the easiest and quickest way to get responses from people in the […]

The Truth Is in the Trenches – The Good Most of us remember the short tale by Hans Christian Anderson about two weavers who promise an emperor a new suit of clothes that is invisible to those who are unfit for their positions, stupid, or incompetent. When the Emperor parades before his subjects in his […]

Ever tried to ice skate? You were most likely a pro after one lesson, right? Learning is a process, not a one-time task. Those of us in the ‘teaching’ industry know this all too well. Sure, there are well documented learning styles, but all that pales compared to the value of repetitive training … especially […]

“Education is every day and everywhere, the only thing that you have to pay, is attention.” Tim Fargo Ever walk into a training session and begin your well-thought out session, only to look at the faces in the room with horror? Some of the students are bored. Some are engaged. And some are so far […]

The Cowboy – The Ugly One story tells it all … As normal during a northwest winter, an ice storm was fast approaching the area. Freeways and bridges were on alert for closure and city officials were asking for emergency driving only. The manager, Mike, called each of us and told us not to drive until […]

  Peter Pan, “All Children, Except One, Grow Up” – The Bad On the surface, Bob looked like a great guy. He was fun and engaging, and certainly the life of the party. Late night hot tubs and wine bottles were the norm with Bob and his staff. Although buyer beware, if he was ever […]

Every organization has a common set of curriculum needed across the enterprise. From on-boarding new employees to annual compliance courses, these sessions need to be time efficient, thorough, and consistent in delivery. Automating these type of training saves time and energy, while providing the employee the flexibility they need around their busy schedule. Automate Repetitive […]

Giant of A Manager – The Good Across the years, there have been many contributors to my own management style, to coin the phrase, The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. One of “The Goods” was one of my first managers, let’s call him Jay for now. Small in stature, around 5’2” tall, but a […]

It’s easy to be a great leader… so why are there so few? Both in and out of our work life we are surrounded by leaders. Some in business, some political, some spiritual, but leaders all the same. It goes without saying, some good, some bad and yes, some ugly. Over my 40 years in […]

Many people think of dollars and cents when asked about assets. However, that line of thinking is like putting the cart before the horse. Dissect any annual budget and find personnel costs are at the core – generally adding up to 80% of all expense lines. By enhancing your employee skills through education is investment […]

On August 8, the Portland Business Journal recognized Litmos Healthcare’s own Tamara Wanamaker. Tamara joined Litmos Healthcare (then BridgeFront) in 2010 as part of our sales team. With her “can do” attitude, business acumen and her ability to turn a no into a yes, Tamara quickly became Regional Sales Manager. She navigated the healthcare landscape […]

  The author for our Customer Communication Skills online education program, the Telephone Doctor, often sends helpful tips and newsletters on customer service and patient satisfaction. Here’s the latest: “A long ago a good friend once told me, ‘Nancy, the training your company provides is common sense that’s actually NOT very common!’ There’s a lot […]

Tomorrow we begin our two-part webinar series on the HIPAA Omnibus Rule discussing the critical changes for covered entities and business associates. We’re excited to have Susan A. Miller, JD, a leading consultant and attorney, presenting for us. Part I for Covered Entities is on Tuesday, April 9: Attorney Miller addresses the critical updates and […]

This February we hosted Gaylyn Sher-Jan, President of OnCourse Group consultancy, in a webinar focused on how to improve employee behaviors for greater patient satisfaction. She listed six key employee behaviors as important: 1. Trust: Trusting individuals tend to believe that the motives of others are honorable. 2. Tact: How you say something to a […]

On January 29, 2013 we hosted a webinar with HCPro’s Senior Regulatory Specialist, Jennifer Avery, CCS, CPC-H, CPC, CPC-I. In the webinar, she discussed the key differences between ICD-9 and ICD-10 that could impact a successful migration to ICD-10. The presentation also highlighted the education needed for your clinical staff, CDIS, billers, and coders to […]

We recently had the opportunity to chat with Ellen Dunn-Malhatro, the Director of Compliance and Regulatory Affairs from the Health Plan of San Mateo on how they used Litmos Healthcare to improve compliance. This session discusses how they implemented Litmos Healthcare education, why they chose online training versus classroom training, and the impact of their training initiatives. […]

The election is OVER!! Thank goodness – life can continue without the constant blast of political advertising every 45 seconds on every media outlet that exists! While you may not agree with the winner of the election, since the administration is not changing, at least those in the healthcare industry can get on with our […]

  During normal operating cycles, most healthcare organizations do more with less to maximize cash flow — which can be difficult. Now, healthcare faces a major and all-important transition: the implementation of ICD-10 on October 1, 2013. You may be involved right now in a project related to preparing for ICD-10. Let’s discuss a few […]

  The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recently announced it will provide a 90-day grace period for enforcement of HIPAA 5010. This doesn’t mean providers don’t have to comply with the requirement. CMS will accept complaints about non-compliance with the rule and could require Covered Entities to show evidence of a good-faith effort […]

Over the past 10 years of visiting clinics and hospitals, for business or personal reasons, it’s hard for our consultants not to observe HIPAA compliance; and most of the time they’re surprised at what they see. The question on their mind is, “who will be the next data breach victim?” Below are some common HIPAA […]