After posting its highest Gallup Employee Engagement scores in seven years, Adena Health System has won the 2014 Gallup Great Workplace Award. The Gallup Great Workplace Award is a global distinction, with just 25 organizations recognized each year.

“This is a huge honor for us,” said Adena’s Chief Learning Officer Gail Games. “This is the first time Adena has ever qualified for this award, and to subsequently win it when competing with hundreds of applicants is great for Adena, our employees and our patients.”

The Gallup Great Workplace Award recognizes the best-performing workforces in the world. Only organizations meeting specific criteria may apply for the award. Applicants’ results are compared across a workplace research database composed of millions of work teams in more than 100 countries. A panel of workplace experts assesses each application and selects the winners.

In its award notification letter, Gallup praised Adena’s leadership for its work in helping to create a more engaged culture among our employees and physicians. “All of the hard work you have done over the past few years to create an improved culture at Adena has paid off,” said Andrew Giger, a senior consultant with Gallup. “The diligence shown by your team is evident.”

“The efforts of our leaders and our physician leaders are behind this recognition,” said Adena President and CEO Mark Shuter. “Their dedication and commitment to make Adena a great place to work and practice is what has helped us to achieve this honor. The real beneficiaries are our patients who can be assured that they are being treated by truly engaged caregivers.”

In its most recent Gallup Employee Engagement Survey, every Adena site saw improved employee engagement scores. Physician engagement was also up, with Adena’s number of “actively engaged” physicians rising by an impressive 10 percent in 2013, and the number of “actively disengaged” doctors dropping by 16 percent.

Adena leaders will be presented with the Gallup Great Workplace Award during a ceremony at the organization’s Spring Summit, being held in Omaha, Nebraska on May 13-15. 

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On Jan. 1, 2014, Adena Regional Medical Center (ARMC) will change to the Medicare provider-based designation model, a common practice in the healthcare industry that separates the charges for physician services and facility utilization. The change only impacts patients insured by Medicaid and Medicare. In addition, physician locations will become departments of ARMC. There will be no change in staff or services.

With the provider-based model, those insured by Medicare will likely receive two bills from ARMC for services provided. The first for “professional services,” which cover the medical care provided to patients by an Adena doctor or health professional. The second is a “facility charge,” which covers the cost of outpatient hospital space, exam rooms and equipment, operations, medical recordkeeping, and other services provided by the hospital. Some Medicare patients may also experience a slight change in their co-pay or out-of-pocket expenses. Medicaid will be billed separately for these services as well.

“The provider-based model is an increasingly common way for hospitals to operate their outpatient facilities,” said Lloyd Eichenlaub, Adena’s Manager of Reimbursement. “The change to a provider-based model offers ARMC a more strategic way to manage its resources for the overall benefit of our patients.”

Finally, the hospital’s longstanding mission of providing quality care to our community, regardless of their ability to pay, will be extended to its physician clinic departments beginning Jan. 1, 2014. Previously, Charity Care had only been provided in the hospital setting.

Patients with questions or difficulties in paying for any healthcare service may contact ARMC’s Patient Financial Services office at (740) 779-7960. 

When Adena began its free Lung Cancer Screening program in November 2013, no one knew the impact it would have on the lives of people in our community. The program provides free CT scans for people at high risk for the disease; and in its first six months has screened more than 350 patients. Of those tested, five cases of lung cancer have been confirmed, with several more suspicious legions undergoing work-up.

“By offering scans for free, Adena is making sure anyone who may be in a high risk category has access to this life-saving test,” said Dr. Jeffrey VanDeusen, Adena Cancer Center’s Medical Director. “Looking at other programs in the country, we knew we would have the greatest impact if our program was offered at no cost. Programs that charge for screens generally see a fraction of the patients of those offering them for free.”

People in the high-risk target patient population are: between 55-74 years old; have 30 or more “pack years” of smoking in their past (a pack year = 1 pack a day for 30 years, 2 packs a day for 15 years, 3 packs a day for 10 years, etc.); a current smoker or have quit smoking within the past 15 years.

The screening is a non-invasive, CT scan which can easily identify tumors or lesions that may need medical attention. In addition to confirming or disproving the possibility of lung cancer, the test has found heart aneurysms, liver nodules, lung disease and even a diagnosis of breast cancer in patients tested at Adena. Like a mammogram, patients are recommended to have a screen each year for the greatest chance of survival in the case of a lung cancer diagnosis.

Adena’s Lung Cancer Screening Program has been designated a “Screening Center of Excellence” by the nation’s leading lung cancer advocacy group. The Lung Cancer Alliance designates Centers of Excellence to identify the places a patient can go for a lung cancer screening that will offer them well-coordinated care and disease management.

Patients meeting the screening criteria should schedule a free lung cancer screening by calling (740) 542-LUNG (5864). Learn more about the Adena Cancer Center.

Adena Rehab’s Annual Hearing and Speech Awareness 5k Walk/Run is scheduled for Saturday, May 10, at 11 a.m.  The race will be held at Yoctangee Park, located in downtown Chillicothe.

The Walk/Run is to bring attention to communication disorders, and the impact they have on patients of all ages. Some are present at birth, while others may be due to aging, a medical condition (such as a stroke) or an injury. Rehabilitation and treatment can improve the quality of life for those who experience problems speaking, understanding and hearing.

A pre-registration fee of $25 is required by April 18, an event t-shirt is included in the price. After the deadline, the registration fee will be $30. Children age 12 and under may participate for free. Packet pickup and day-of-event registration will begin at 9:30 a.m.

All proceeds from the 5K Walk/Run will go to the Adena Health Foundation’s Speech and Hearing Fund. 

Online registration is available at https://speechandhearing5k.eventbrite.com. If you have questions about the event, email Danielle Pecchia at dpecchia@adena.org.  

Adena Regional Medical Center’s Occupational Health Department has moved from the main hospital to the Adena Health and Wellness Center, a building located on the northeast corner of the ARMC campus in Chillicothe.

Occupational Health provides services to workers throughout the region who may have been injured on the job; are in need of occupational rehabilitation; are required to have pre-employment health physicals or drug screening. The new location will offer our patients 5,000 square feet of clinical space, better building accessibility, and better parking. The clinic was previously located at the hospital’s busy West entrance, near the Emergency Department.

Visitors to Adena Occupational Health will find the easiest access by entering the Adena campus at the traffic light off of Rt. 159 (across from the Kenworth plant entrance). Once on the Adena campus, the Health and Wellness Center is immediately on the right at 4461 Rt. 159.

Learn more about Adena's Occupational Health services.