Okay - Health Information Specialist Mackenzie Health Employee Review

- Unsafe work environment when working at Richmond Hill: There is a significant concern regarding the lack of physical barriers between patients and staff in this office. Patients can easily access Protected Health Information (PHI) and have unrestricted entry into the entire office. The absence of clear signs or barriers to separate patients from staff desks and computers poses a serious security risk. Despite instructing patients to stay behind the desk, they consistently walk behind the staff desk, potentially exposing PHI on the computers. This situation creates a heightened risk of incidents, especially with mental health or disgruntled patients, due to the lack of safety measures in place. The high volume of patients visiting this location, coupled with only one front desk employee scheduled, often results in 4-5 patients waiting simultaneously. It is crucial to have two employees working at this location to manage the workload efficiently and maintain a safe environment. Furthermore, the accessibility of Patient Access/Registration employees to the HIM office raises concerns about potential unauthorized access to PHI. As these employees are not certified members of the Health Information Management (HIM) team, they should not have such unrestricted access to PHI. The absence of CHIMA certification among the management team further highlights the need for enhanced security measures in handling sensitive patient information. - Staff are required to rotate between Vaughan/Richmond Hill locations: This poses a significant inconvenience for individuals with long commutes. Instead of rotating between the two locations, why not consider hiring someone who resides closer to one location and assigning them to work there consistently? This approach would be more practical and make better sense. If achieving this is not feasible, then there should be compensation for travel expenses. Considering the high cost of living and the value of our time (many of us have an hour+ commute time), this should be reflected in our compensation, either through a travel premium or an increase in base pay to offset the added expense. It's important to recognize that we are providing a service, and the compensation structure should align with the value we bring, acknowledging that we are extending a favour to the organization, not the other way around. - Too many part-time staff: Unlike most other hospitals/clinics that maintain a higher ratio of full-time to part-time employees, our department nearly balances part-time and full-time staff. This contributes to a notably high turnover rate and a shortage of senior staff available for new graduates/hires to learn from. The resulting situation is characterized by a lack of standardized procedures, with numerous staff members having varying levels of expertise or offering different answers to the same questions. This inconsistency in workflow poses significant challenges for new hires attempting to navigate their roles effectively. - Training is almost non-existent: The training period is excessively brief, lacks consistency, and provides insufficient reference materials for learning. Additionally, new hires are being instructed by relatively inexperienced staff members who may not always have the correct answers. The nature of the work often involves learning on the job, which can create a perception among patients that staff members are not fully knowledgeable. This situation can lead to the dissemination of incorrect information, further impacting the quality of service provided. - Remote work possible for full-time staff only: The union is currently in talks about implementing part-time remote work, but the proposal is limited to full-time staff. This approach seems unfair, especially when many other companies with hybrid models extend remote work opportunities to all staff members, regardless of their employment status. Given that all employees are engaged in similar tasks, restricting remote work to full-time staff may lead to increased turnover among part-time employees, ultimately incurring additional costs for the company over time. Allowing part-time staff to work remotely would not only alleviate personal expenses such as transportation and meals but could also contribute to a reduction in turnover. This is crucial for maintaining team stability, as turnover often entails a learning curve and requires additional training time, which can strain the overall efficiency of the team. - Staff are required to pay for parking ($55+/month): I have worked at several hospitals outside of the GTA where employees are not required to pay for parking. This represents a significant expense for those with long commutes or working part-time hours, where income is already reduced. We are dedicating our time and effort to contribute to the success of your company, and I believe there is room for improvement in this regard. - Expected to do call centre/customer service phone calls: HIM staff are currently tasked with assisting patients in handling customer service calls related to their MyChart accounts. It's worth noting that 99% of these calls are not related to releasing information but rather focus on signing up for MyChart or troubleshooting technical issues (such as password retrieval or navigating the website). While HIM professionals play a crucial role in health information management, providing call centre support is not within the primary scope of their responsibilities. This aspect of patient support would be more efficiently handled by dedicated call centre staff. Redirecting calls to HIM staff specifically for Release of Information (ROI) matters as needed is a more strategic approach. Time spent by HIM professionals assisting patients with MyChart sign-up concerns, which often takes over 25 minutes, could be better utilized in more specialized areas. Implementing call centre-specific staff for MyChart support and utilizing part-time certified HIM professionals to assist full-time staff in areas like ROI or Quality Assurance and Improvement (QAI) would better align with the specific needs of the department.