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Healthcare Review - June/July
2004
PEOs Helping Small Medical Practices
With Safety Services
By Ryan
Foley
Today’s small medical practices
run the risk of becoming uninformed due to the rapid
pace of changing regulations regarding workplace safety.
The goal is to provide a safe and healthy working environment
for employees, but quite often the multitude of federal
regulations and state laws makes this arduous.
That’s
where Professional Employer Organizations (PEOs) come
into play. PEOs function as outsourced
human resources departments and can relieve a practitioner
of much of the worry over regulatory compliance. PEOs
also help medical practices keep pace with changes
in federal and state employment-related regulations.
Peggy
Thomas, who is the administrative manager of Chesapeake
and Washington Heart Care in Waldorf, MD,
enlisted the aid of a PEO back in 2000. Her choice
was Administaff, Inc., which has 38 offices around
the United States including one in Boston, MA.
“Right from the start, we’ve had a wonderful
working relationship,” Thomas said. “As
a manager, having a company like Administaff assisting
us makes my job as manager so much easier.”
Administaff, which is the country’s leading
PEO, serves as an off-site, full-service human resources
department for small and medium-sized businesses. The
company delivers its personnel management services
by entering into a co-employment relationship with
a client company and the client company’s existing
employees, including the business owner. Under this
arrangement, Administaff assumes or shares many of
the responsibilities of being an employer, and provides
the client company and the worksite employees with
a wide array of value-added benefits and services not
typically available at small businesses.
And for small
medical practices such as Chesapeake and Washington
Heart Care, one of the most important
value-added benefits was safety services.
“Naturally, we had an existing safety program,” Thomas
said. “What we wanted was Administaff to build
upon the one we had in place, and that’s exactly
what they did.”
To start, Administaff’s consultants conduct
a safety audit, which involves evaluating a practice’s
current safety program and its loss experience. They
will also visit a practice and analyze the workplace
for industrial exposures, hazards and controls.
In Chesapeake
and Washington Heart Care’s case,
there was the risk of employees being exposed to bloodborn
pathogens.
“We cover everything,” said Mark Groves,
who is Administaff’s director of Safety Services. “There’s
a focus on every type of hazard imaginable, from radiation
and chemical to fire and falls. It’s a very thorough
process.”
Following the safety audit, Administaff recommends
a safety program aimed at correcting and reducing potential
hazards and loss causes. Once that’s in place,
the company will continue to monitor the practice,
and make certain the proper modifications were implemented
and in line with Occupational Safety and Health Administration
standards.
“What we’ve always liked is Administaff’s
practice of following up with us,” Thomas said. “Once
a safety review is complete and changes have been recommended,
they will check back at our convenience and make sure
everything is up to par.”
“We customize to what a client’s needs
are,” Groves said. “It’s all about
finding the right solutions for that specific practice.”
Administaff’s
safety services include several other programs, too.
There are safety management courses
that cover everything from chemical hazards to latex
safety and sensitivity. These programs are featured
both online or onsite.
Administaff also offers resources
aimed at helping practices keep updated on federal and
state laws, as
well as information related to other workplace safety
topics. These resources include an audiovisual library,
monthly “toolbox” safety meeting topics,
a monthly safety newsletter and a Web site.
“I really wasn’t aware of the many benefits
these types of companies offer,” Thomas said. “They
did little things like check our fire extinguishers,
as well as offer CPR training. Administaff covered
all the bases for us.”
Communication is vital
Thomas said one of the keys in
having a strong, working relationship with a PEO is communication.
Having
a PEO that’s accessible – especially
when in need of information regarding changing safety
regulations – is definitely vital.
“Any time we need help, we can call Administaff
and get answers to our questions,” Thomas said. “They
have personnel with the ability to tackle any issues
we may have. I can’t stress how important this
is.”
Groves said the feedback from small medical practices
such as Thomas’ is generally positive. Clients
are content with the safety program Administaff recommended
and the comprehensive services offered, which are typically
only available to bigger companies with bigger budgets.
“Typically, everyone is pleased,” Groves
said. “I’ve even had doctors tell me they
learned a great deal after working with our company.”
Reprinted
with permission from Healthcare Review, June/July 2004.
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