job advancement within the coordinator role
TRANSCRIPT
Objectives
• Understand evolution of the Coordinator Role
in GME
• Examine the need for a system for
professional development and job
advancement within the coordinator position
• Understand the steps we took for upgrading
our job description and pay scale
“RPA’s 2010 Coordinator Salary Survey
shows most coordinators’ pay does not
reflect the skill level they possess to
successfully perform their jobs.”
Source: Residency Program Alert, December, 2010
The range, scope, and responsibility level
of job duties entrusted to residency
coordinators, has evolved tremendously
over the past two decades.
When the role of “coordinator” within
ACGME training programs started in the
late 80’s, it was seen as purely secretarial.
Someone who could execute the tasks
outlined by Program Directors, with direct
supervision, on a day-to-day basis.
In the couple of decades since, the role has
evolved from one that was primarily
secretarial with little direct responsibility,
to one that is largely administrative with
increasing amounts of responsibility for
all areas of program compliance.
At most institutions Program Directors
are still expected to be income producing
physicians. With budget constraints and
income expectations, more and more of
the day-to-day operation of the residency
program has naturally transitioned from
the Program Director to the Program
Coordinator.
According to the 2010 HCPro
article, coordinators state:
• 92% act as a communication liaison for the
program director
• 91% state that they participate in ACGME
accreditation activities
• 77% develop curriculum, create evaluations,
and document core competencies
• 65% develop and implement new policies and
procedures.
In a lot of cases, we are the first line of
communication with the ACGME, our
RRC, our specialty boards, our own
GME, hospital, and state licensing
boards.
We shoulder a fair amount of
responsibility for meeting deadlines for
data submissions and responsibility for
following proper protocols, that can have
severe consequences for our program.
So why then, at a lot of institutions, is our
position still primarily classified as
“secretarial”?
Our DIO raised this issue with HR in
2008. At that time their solution was to
reclassify the position from one listed
under the “Clerical” classification to one
listed under “Professional.
“Coordinators are often met with confused looks when trying to explain what they do to HR, department administrators, and even some
program directors. To add to the confusion, there is no standardized job description for coordinators.
The responsibilities assigned to the job vary among institutions – sometimes even within an
institution. With so much variety, it’s not surprising that coordinators often get lumped into the “secretarial” category, even though their jobs require administrative and managerial skills.”
Source: HealthLeaders Media, October 12, 2010
Which was evidenced by what happened to
our position when our job classification
was moved from “secretarial” to
“professional”
Clerical Position Starting Wage
Administrative Assistant $11.53
Billing Analyst $10.20
Call Center Rep $9.54
Managed Care Specialist
$10.35
Medical Secretary $9.38
Patient Account Analyst $9.97
Patient Account Specialist
$10.47
Revenue Cycle Team Leader
$11.07
Secretary III $10.01
Scheduling Specialist $10.94
Supervisor Patient Registration
$10.87
AVG STARTING WAGE $10.39
Professional Position Starting Wage
Abstractor $13.57
Billing Manager $15.88
Billing Specialist $12.50
Communications Specialist
$17.86
Coordinator Alumni Programs
$14.12
Coordinator Residency Program
$12.15
Department Manager $13.64
Financial Reimbursement Analyst
$18.89
News Service Coordinator
$18.20
Research & Grants Coordinator
$16.41
Revenue Cycle Supervisor $12.30
AVG STARTING WAGE $15.05
Professional Position Starting Wage
Financial Reimbursement Analyst
$18.89
News Service Coordinator
$18.20
Communications Specialist
$17.86
Research & Grants Coordinator
$16.41
Billing Manager $15.88
Coordinator Alumni Programs
$14.12
Department Manager $13.64
Abstractor $13.57
Billing Specialist $12.50
Revenue Cycle Supervisor $12.30
Coordinator Residency Program
$12.15
AVG STARTING WAGE $15.05
So, it’s true that our
position got
upgraded from a
“CLERICAL” to a
“PROFESSIONAL”,
classification but
did we gain
anything?
Our salary was still
more closely aligned
to the clerical pay
scale, than it was to
the professional
one.
Luckily for us, our DIO understood the
expectations for the Coordinator Role and
was aware of the ever-increasing disparity
between our role and the job description
listed for the position with our HR
In 2011, he assembled a Committee and
charged us with the following tasks:
1.Updating the Job Description listed
with our Human Resources Department
to more accurately reflect our role.
2.Research salaries for similar positions
at other institutions
3.Determine the potential for career
advancement and skill development
within the role.
Questions
• Is the job description for Residency
Coordinators accurate at the HR level?
• Is the rate of pay in line with the job
requirements?
• Is the rate of pay in line with peers at similar
institutions?
• Is there a method of job advancement without
leaving the position?
Salary 2007 2008 2009 2010
Less than $30,000 13% 8% 6% 5%
$30,001 - $40,000 44% 40% 35% 32%
$40,001 - $50,000 27% 30% 35% 36%
$50,001 - $60,000 9% 20% 16% 18%
$60,001 - $70,000 4% 3% 6% 7%
More than $70,000 3% 0% 2% 3%
2007-2010 INCOME COMPARISON
Source: HCPro, Inc.
Salary 2007 2008 2009 2010
Less than $30,000 13% 8% 6% 5%
$30,001 - $40,000 44% 40% 35% 32%
$40,001 - $50,000 27% 30% 35% 36%
$50,001 - $60,000 9% 20% 16% 18%
$60,001 - $70,000 4% 3% 6% 7%
More than $70,000 3% 0% 2% 3%
2007-2010 INCOME COMPARISON
Source: HCPro, Inc.
Ass
Education 2007
High School Diploma 37%
Associate’s Degree 21%
Bachelor’s Degree 32%
Master’s Degree 10%
Doctorate 0%
Coordinator Education 2010 Survey
Source: HCPro, Inc.
Another interesting fact from the HCPro
Survey was that 55% of respondents
reported being salaried and only 45%
reported earning hourly wages. The
pendulum is swinging in the managerial
direction.
We addressed three key areas:
• Job Description – rewrite to reflect the
current tasks of a coordinator
• Salary – are we in line with national trends?
• Career Advancement – is it possible to create
the potential for this in the coordinator
position?
Job Description • Started with the old job description from
inception – updated it to remove all
outdated job tasks and add many new
ones
• Found that with Human Resource
Departments, adjectives were critical
• Any word within a description that
indicates that you performed the task,
rather than was responsible for the
task, falls into a secretarial category
Job Description
• When re-writing the Coordinator Job
Description keep in mind:
• SUPERVISION – what tasks are you
responsible for that could be designated as
supervisory (duty hours, statistic entry, etc.) ?
• RESPONSIBILITY – what tasks are you
responsible for that could have serious
consequences for your program if performed
incorrectly?
Job Description
From a Human Resources standpoint,
SUPERVISION & RESPONSIBILITY
are the two key points that separate
the Coordinator Role from that of a
secretarial position.
Salary Survey
• We created a 27 question anonymous
survey using SURVEY MONKEY, which
we distributed to coordinators using
each specialty’s coordinator list-serve,
over a two-week period in February,
2011
• Distributed survey invitation via
specialty coordinator list-serves
Salary Survey
• Received 1,048 unique responses to the
survey
• 773 responses were from University
Based programs, which is the data that
we used for comparison
Salary Below Us Same As Above Us
WV and Neighboring States
8% 8% 84%
Neighboring States not including WV
16% 14% 70%
All States 5% 5% 90%
2011 SURVEY RESULTS
Source: WVU National Survey
In neighboring states (not including ours)
14% were in the $29,120 - $31,200
category for salary
In all states
9% were in the $31,200 - $33,280
category for salary
Highest Percentage of
Responders
Career Advancement
• Unlike many job classifications, the
Coordinator position is so unique and
specialized that there is often little or
no ability for job advancement.
• This is a key factor in turnover
within the coordinator position
Career Advancement
• We also did an in-house survey of our
Coordinators and Directors to gage
turnover, in 2011
• Average length of time in the
position Program Directors was
4.26 years
• Average length of time in the
position for Program Coordinators
was 8.79 years
•
Career Advancement
Just like with patient care, “continuity”
is important! This field has a huge
learning curve, and the knowledge that
Coordinators contribute to the
continuity of the program is invaluable.
So what can be done to assign value to
knowledge gained from experience?
Salary WVU National
0 – 3 Years 42% 26%
4 – 6 Years 11% 28%
7 – 10 Years 11% 18%
11 – 15 Years 13% 15%
16 – 20 Years 8% 19%
21 – 25 Years 5% 0%
25 Years & Up 11% 4%
COORDINATOR EXPERIENCE
Source: WVU National Survey
• Is it because salary is out of alignment
with job requirements, lack of
advancement opportunities, or both?
• Are we training coordinators and losing
them to career advancement?
In the 0 – 3 years of experience
category, WVU was above the
national percentage by 16%
Residency Coordinator
Tier System
Outline of Progressive Knowledge, Responsibilities, and Requirements
TIER 2
Program Administrator
Solid knowledge base of ACGME topics evidenced by accreditation by TAGME
TIER 3
Senior Program Administrator
Expert knowledge base of ACGME topics evidenced by re-accreditation by
TAGME
Outcome
• A formal request for the Coordinator
position to be re-evaluated for
consideration of:
– Job Description to be rewritten to be
reflective of current responsibilities of
coordinator
– Salary increase in alignment with duties
– Tiered system for job advancement
Presented to Our HR
Supporting Documentation
Included
• Our salary survey information which
included national survey data, as well as
data from surrounding states only
• HCPro Salary Survey Data
• WVU Coordinator Years of Experience
data
• National Survey Coordinator Years of
Experience data
Additional Documentation
Included
• National avg for Program Director years
of experience
• WVU avg for Program Director years of
experience
• Cost of living comparison between our
state and surrounding states
• Comparative wage information from
neighboring institution
Additional Documentation
Included
• Comparative information about duties
between job categories within our own
institution
• Comparative information about salaries
between other position in the
professional category at our own
institution
Additional Documentation
Included
• Data for starting salaries for college
degree holders from West Virginia
University (data provided by www.payscale.com)
Outcome
• Accepted our revised job description that
classified the position into a professional
category
• Starting salary increase of 24.7%,
phased in over a three-year period which
started 1/1/2012
• Three Tiered career advancement
system was accepted
Our Human Resources Department
Thank You Dr. Norman Ferrari
Our DIO
Who supported us in this endeavor and fought to get
our position reclassified into a “professional”
category and a pay increase that was competitive
and fair for our position.