Teri Bedard, Executive Director, Client & Corporate Resources with Revenue Cycle Coding Strategies, discusses some common billing and coding issues. This content originally appeared in Radiation Oncology News for Administrators, Vol. 31 No. 3.

This blog post is based on “A Team Approach to Patient Care,” an article published in Radiation Oncology News for Administrators, Vol 31, No 2. The publication is an SROA member benefit.

In September 2020, Jana Grienke, clinical administrator in the Department of Radiation Oncology at the University of Iowa Hospitals, was recognized as a “Healthcare Hero,” and her team approach to health care was featured in an article.

“In radiation oncology, we’re always uber focused on the safety of patients and staff, but when the pandemic started, it really did force us to have a different perspective and approach with things in the clinic,” she said. “Due to the urgency, we needed to make decisions quickly and sometimes in real time.”

This blog post is based on “Improving Interoperability Through Standardization,” an article published in Radiation Oncology News for Administrators, Vol 31, No 2. The publication is an SROA member benefit.

When clinics have separate standalone systems, often there are inefficiencies like duplication of effort, underuse of tools that can lead to errors from manual workarounds, and missing documentation. TriHealth operates five radiation therapy sites, three of which came online during the pandemic, so we needed to standardize workflows and software among all the sites.

The same distractions that interrupt office productivity also penetrate remote work environments. There can be spouses, kids, pets, laundry, and yard work to manage. So, how can you be simultaneously present and productive? By learning to set boundaries using common language and simple tools like the 5 Gears.

Medical nutrition therapy (MNT) improves patients’ ability to tolerate treatment, quality of life during and post-treatment, and survival. MNT reduces weight loss, unplanned hospitalizations, lengths of stay in hospital and breaks in treatment. More than 50 percent of cancer patients exhibit nutritional risk factors at their initial oncology visit, and roughly 80 percent of these patients experience malnutrition at some point during treatment

Over the last year many of us have gone from days with face-to-face meetings to hours of virtual meetings. With accessibility increasing, it seems like more and more meetings are happening via online platforms such as Teams, Webex, and especially Zoom. 

Sitting is the new smoking. I’m sure you’ve heard that one before. With more and more people working from home, and with laptops, cell phones and email, the lines between our work lives and home lives have most definitely blurred, which leads to longer working days and more hours spent “logged in.”

While studies have shown that we are not necessarily sitting more than our prehistoric predecessors we also aren’t getting up and moving around as much as we once did. Sure, we can buy a standing desk, or sit on an exercise ball while we work to mitigate some of the negative effects of sitting, but a better strategy might be to incorporate short periods of movement during the day.

March is Women’s History Month, a time to recognize the vital role of women in American history.

SROA’s Connect community offers members a platform to ask each other questions, share ideas, or, as the website says, “connect and collaborate.” We asked our Community members what women inspire them in honor of Women’s History Month. Here is a sampling of some of the responses we received.

As administrators, we cannot underestimate the value and impact of a comprehensive onboarding program. Onboarding is the first opportunity for new hires to get a true sense of our organization’s culture.

People want to feel valued, heard, and understood in every environment. So, how do you know which team members want to be led in which way? First, seek to understand yourself, then seek to understand others. The way you communicate will lead to building or destroying your workplace culture.