Count the benefits of employee leasing
By Stephen W. Earnhart, MS
President and CEO
Earnhart and Associates, Dallas
The timing may be right to consider leasing your employees. You professionals who were above all this in the past might want to look at the numbers. Imagine with me the following scenario for a moment. One dark gray morning:
· One of your employees tells you that one of your surgeons was, well, inappropriate.
· Janis, your clinical coordinator, smells of liquor at 8 a.m.
· Your personnel budget is due.
· The health benefits for your employees are up for renegotiation, and your staff already are complaining about their poor health benefits.
· Payroll checks are late.
· The Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care (AAAHC) needs all your up-to-date personnel files.
· Your cat dies.
· Your Equal Employment Opportunity Commission reports are late.
First, you are having a thoroughly miserable day and should have stayed in bed or, at the very least, taken better care of your cat!
With the exception of the defunct feline, all those issues could be handled by a simple toll-free phone call. Or perhaps you wouldn't have had to deal with them in the first place if your employees were leased. Now, don't get the wrong idea - I was once a "leased employee" and thought it was miserable. But that was then, and now is the future. The system has changed significantly over the past few years. It is, for one, much more professional, not restricted to blue collar or accounting staff as in the past. Many physicians' offices are leasing themselves and their employees.
Now the good news: You can have all of the above at the same or less than what you are paying now for fewer services and benefits! I was shocked myself, but I manage several ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) where the employees are "leased," and I am impressed with how efficient, smooth, and less expensive it is. It sold me.
I asked around and received information from the leasing companies (there are several now that cater to health care) about the benefits of leasing. I thought they laid it out nicely.
For the ASC, the benefits of leasing are that it:
· controls costs;
· saves time, energy, and paperwork;
· provides professional regulatory and legislative compliance;
· provides better and more comprehensive benefits packages;
· ensures smooth claims processing;
· provides professional personnel services;
· significantly reduces accounting costs;
· helps reduce turnover and attract better employees.
For the staff, the benefits are:
· comprehensive benefits that previously were unavailable;
· better employer/employee communications;
· payroll that is on-time and accurate;
· professional assistance with employment-related problems;
· up-to-date advice on labor regulations and workers' rights, worksite safety, and employee wellness;
· a professional orientation and employee handbook;
· statutory protection for employees;
· smooth claims processing.
For President Clinton, the benefits are:
· consolidation of many companies' tax filings into one;
· more professional preparation and reporting;
· quicker collections of taxes;
· medical benefits for more workers;
· increased communications of government requirements and changes to the small business community;
· resolution of many problems before they reach court or arbitration;
· government is able to reach small businesses through a single representative.
Those are some of the issues to consider. Leasing also benefits hospital ASCs. Often, it is better for all to have an arms-length relationship with the hospital - especially if there is a physician joint venture, existing or pending.
Take your time and choose a leasing company that's best for you. Look for those with ambulatory surgery center experience if you can. They are out there if you look hard enough. Check with trade associations, exhibitors at conferences, and your peers. Take the advice of other centers that are using them - make sure there are no hidden costs or fees. Check to make sure they understand the regulations as they apply to Medicare, Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, and AAAHC. It doesn't save you time or money if you have to do their work for them!
Get a quote and compare
Ask for a quote about their services. If you can get all those services for the same price or less than you're paying now for your benefit package, have better benefits, and you get more time to run your facility - go for it.
According to the Earnhart Survey Group, which includes 1,700 hospital and surgery center administrators and managers surveyed by my firm, 15% of ASCs currently lease employees, and 20% plan to lease employees over the next 12 months.
Now, go check your cat . . .
(Editor's note: Earnhart can be reached at Earnhart and Associates, 5905 Tree Shadow Place, Suite 1200, Dallas, TX 75252. E-mail: [email protected]. World Wide Web: http://www.earnhart.com.)
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