Mixed Messages –Non-transparency corporate behavior... what corporate executives fail to see.

The business world is rife with contempt, unpredictability and unfairness. And so does the employing marketplace, especially when hearing or reading about uncertain revenue trends, increased regulatory burdens and/or inconsistent or challenging reimbursement models seen across the Healthcare industry. Naturally, many healthcare executive leaders or administrators are quickly to point out & “vent about their financial organizational hardships” and how imperative is for every organizational employee to be fiscally responsible if they are to survive the current & continuous economic turmoil faced everyday.

Unfortunately, given these financial stressors & “reality” to most healthcare organizations, frayed relationships are beginning to rise & negatively impact employee relationships with their CEOs & other deep-pocketed healthcare executives. Mostly due to deceitful dishonest corporate mandates or strategies used to curtail, eliminate or streamline ( roll-back) salary-benefits packages of Advance Practice Providers ( APPs ). These alleged “financial woes” as given & used on many CEO-employee forums rings untrue and is very hard to stomach when there’s a deceitful agenda behind it, particularly if the company is thriving.  

Many clinicians fear and stand to reason this compensational “imbalance” has increased the divide and added to the frustrating rage an element of distrust especially when these executives make their obscene year-end “bonuses”. And since most APPs are not union members, we tend to be the ”sacrificial lambs first”; after all, & often times we don’t have a voice nor representation as other company employees do. 

However, we do not need to see ourselves as the perennial sacrificial lambs as they would like us to think & see ourselves. Our professional interdependence is not a parasitic one rather a symbiotic one, technically that’s what we need to remind ourselves. We must not succumb to believing their “dualistic message” is the final word or amended dictated reality. We are in the driver’s seat sort-of-speak; both directly and indirectly we can exert a profound influence on “advertising” and let’s not forget “public relations”—vital core issues for any business enterprises. 

Yet, keeping in mind that the business world is not regular, simple nor  that industry forces are predictable, it’s best if collectively we remain flexible and adaptive in our transactional dealings with administrative executives.

We must realize that we are worthy professionals. Also, that we’re not doomed to be a submissive, subservient class because of protectionism views or activities exercised by other kindred groups in the industry. Our social reality is one of evolutionary progress as seen through the last few decades. Fallacious arguments and empty rhetoric must be scrutinized so we can think more rationally & proactively while not being fooled by half-truths, misleading corporate data or when sitting at the negotiating table with the non-transparent “bean counters”. 

This day and age calls for a new negotiating perspective for all PAs. One of a “healthy mistrust of authority”. One emphasizing unbiased facts, one requiring transparent probabilities and objectivity to all stakeholders/shareholders involved when seeking to find common grounds & simplify these business discussions. In addition, we must learn to live comfortable with the uncertainties of the business world. The truth is there’s no single guarantee of legitimacy or truth when it comes to the information age, only solid indicators of legitimacy. 

        So try not to put all your eggs in one basket when trying to make an informed decision, but at the same time don’t victimize yourself by procrastinating due to paralysis analysis… especially when debunking corporate fabrications regarding salary/benefit compression. 

Yet, time after time, whether privately employed or hospital employed, many APPs have found when they attempt to establish some form of dialogue to correct this disparity, or at the very least level the playing field then it becomes rather obvious to them we are to blame even though we’re always big revenue producers. How wrong is this? Don’t they realize that truthfulness goes a long way rather than obfuscation. Quite frankly, I would think this is not the role nor the message any transparent ( ethical “magnet” ) healthcare organizations would like to send to their internal/external constituents when portraying themselves as solid patient-centric community partners. Am I wrong? ( think of Enron,& Wells-Fargo for awful examples of unacceptable corporate behavior).

 

You [we] have a choice; our career transactions are not always fated. The days” of skepticism, pessimism, & illusionism are behind us. Moreover, we should be redefining this reality with optimism and a deeply rooted sense of APPs pride. We deserve it and earned it...rightfully ours.