Recognition can help promote CME
Recognition can help promote CME
By Michael Barton, SHRMVice President, Human Resources
Regional Medical Center
Madison, KY
(Editor’s note: This is the second part of a two-part series about education incentives, including monetary rewards. Part one can be found in the July issue of Physician Relations Update, p. 77.)
Motivating physicians to attend continuing medical education programs can be half the battle in promoting extracurricular learning. The real challenge can lie in translating lessons learned from the classroom into the physician’s everyday practice of medicine.
My experience has found there are two ways to implement effective recognition programs — through certificates of recognition or through monetary incentives.
Recognition is perhaps the easiest incentive to implement. Much like the benefits described in last month’s issue, the physician can be reimbursed for completing a specific training program or rewarded for achieving an accreditation or certification in a medical specialty. One example is receiving "The Physician’s Recognition Award" from the American Medical Association.
This award has two levels of recognition, including certification with commendation for self-directed learning and the standard certificate. Certification with commendation requires the physician to participate in formal education programs (i.e., category 1 CME activities) and other less formal education activities (i.e., category 2 CME) to maintain this status. Your organization can assist the physician with the cost of the continuing education programs to maintain this recognition award or provide a monetary bonus (e.g., $1,000 annually) to those physicians who continue to meet this criteria. The above approach could be applied to any accreditation or learning program deemed important by the organization in maintaining or enhancing the skills of the physician.
Monetary awards for integrating the learning into the physician’s practice is an area that astute organizations realize will ultimately pay dividends in the form of expanded markets and improved medical services. Monetary awards generally are of three types:
• Lump-sum bonuses.
The physician is provided a one-time bonus (e.g., $5,000) for offering a new service into the practice. There are generally no ongoing productivity measures or any additional remuneration for integrating the learning into the practice. The physician must generally agree to maintain any education requirements in order to be able to offer the new service or medical procedure.
• Productivity bonuses.
The physician is paid a bonus quarterly or annually for increasing revenues or improving the clinical outcomes of the patient. The bonus payment will be tied to documented improvements as a result of implementing new services, procedures, or other clinical enhancements related to new learning activities. The bonus may be ongoing if the integration of the new learning continues to positively impact revenues and patient outcomes. The bonus could be a tiered system by which increased productivity or improved outcomes result in higher monetary awards (e.g., 5% improvement is rewarded at $10,000 annually; 10% improvement receives a $20,000 bonus, etc.).
• Salary and bonus.
An immediate salary increase or bonus is granted for integrating the training into the practice. Future bonuses or salary increases are tied to improvements in revenues, quality outcomes, and service delivery. This method provides for an immediate monetary reward and allows the physician an opportunity to be compensated for any future improvements in the practice. This method also provides more impetus for the physicians to enhance their skills in order to ensure any new services or clinical procedures are successful in the long-run.
While the above are the most common approaches, it is important for each organization to decide what works best. This means experimenting with a number of benefit and incentive approaches. (For additional education incentives, see story, above.)
The ultimate goal of any education incentive program should be to positively impact the effectiveness and professional development of the physician. If this goal is achieved, the organization is more likely to realize gains in revenue and improvements in service delivery.
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