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Currents  On July 30, the Medical Center management tactical planning retreat was held at a conference facility at James Island County Park. The retreat participants included clinical faculty leaders, and Medical Center managers and directors. The primary purpose of the retreat was to begin to develop detailed, two-year tactical plan objectives to carry out the more global five-year clinical enterprise strategic plan.  At the retreat, we focused on critical issues, including reducing cost of care, customer service, medical staff involvement, information-based decision-making and management effectiveness. The retreat generated many ideas to use in developing the tactical plan objectives. The next step will be to engage work teams to finalize the tactical plan. As we progress, we will share the details of the tactical plan.  Retreat participants also were given an update on the authority implementation plan. Conversion to an authority has been a high priority for fulfilling the clinical enterprise strategic plan. We also discussed the organizational assessment survey that was recently featured in Currents, and shared examples of best practices within various departments as indicated by the survey. On another topic, the Me Issues Committee is making progress. Their primary goal was to recommend new human resources plans such as grievance procedures and annual leave plans, taking into consideration the Authority Act and the KPMG consultants' report. Please read the series of questions and answers listed. As we move forward, we will routinely communicate additional details. Questions can be directed to the committee by e-mail (address: Me Issues), through campus mail, or to the individual committee members. W. Stuart Smith Vice President for Clinical Operations Executive Director, MUSC Medical Center   MRI/Laser Facility Schedule Hal Currey, associate dean of Operations for the College of Medicine, presented the following schedule for the new MRI/laser facility:  Design complete  Certificate of Need (CON)—early August  Close on loan—as soon as CON is available  Begin construction—Aug. 17  Complete site work—Sept. 17  Start pile-driving—Sept. 20 (Pile-driving will last up to three weeks, and will take place between noon and 8 p.m., six days a week.)  Construct facility—August 1999 - June 2000 The Rutledge Tower surface parking lot no longer will be available.  Additional handicap parking spaces will be added to the Rutledge Tower parking garage. There will be brief, scheduled closures of the bridge over Sabin Street.  The water main will be replaced on Ashley Avenue from Sabin Street to Bee Street from Aug. 17 to Sept. 17.  JCAHO Accreditation Vivian Gettys, JCAHO program manager, highlighted major recommendations from the Office of the Inspector General's “External Review of Hospital Quality” report: Conduct more unannounced surveys.  Redefine accreditation with commendation to make it more meaningful, or abolish it. Introduce more random selection of records in the survey. Provide surveyors with more context about hospitals. Determine year-to-year survey priorities. Conduct more rigorous review of  hospitals' continuing quality improvement efforts. Enhance surveyors' abilities to respond to complaints during the surveys. Gettys noted the steps taken by the Joint Commission to address these recommendations.  JCAHO consultants Lois Kerr and Shirley Wilson distributed a handout and presented information about the 12-month track records the JCAHO requires for patient assessment, performance improvement, leadership, medical staff, care of patients, environment of care, information management, infection control and human resources. Telephone System Upgrade David Northrup, director of CCIT Healthcare Computing Services, reviewed information about the telephone system and Audix upgrades.  In August, decentralization of telephone wiring will occur. This is the second of three phases, which will result in a major upgrade to the MUSC telephone system. The wiring decentralization could result in 10- or 15-minute phone outages in the Medical University Hospital, North Tower and the Clinical Sciences Building. The specific outage times are unpredictable. Approximately 25 percent of the 792 extensions in these three buildings will be affected.  An e-mail that lists the extensions that will be affected was sent to Medical Center management team members. Medical Center departments are being surveyed to identify critical phones for future disaster recovery and Y2K purposes. On Sept. 15, the second phase of the Audix system upgrade will occur. As a result, Audix will not be available that day between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.  Northrup said Lucent Technologies has had better success in this second phase of the upgrade, compared to the first upgrade process that occurred in late June. There will be a freeze on telephone orders between Sept. 14 and Nov. 6. Please plan ahead, and submit telephone service orders as soon as possible to University Communications. The fax number is 792-9898. On Oct. 30, the completion of the migration to the new phone processor will take place. This transition could result in phone outages that might last up to three hours. Additional information will be provided as this date approaches. Me Issues Committee Questions and Answers Q: Will state retirement be affected? No. Q: Will insurance stay the same? Yes. Q: Will the retirement years of service change? No. Q: Will participating in the retirement system be optional or mandatory? Participation will continue to be mandatory. In the future, the Medical Center may explore an alternative retirement plan for new employees and current employees who wish to participate. We have not made a decision about this, and it will require the cooperation and support of the state retirement system. No employee will be asked or required to discontinue participation in the state retirement plan. Q: What will happen to already accrued leave? No one will lose any accrued annual or sick leave.  We anticipate that the Medical Center will adopt a paid-time-off, or PTO, plan in the future. We will rely on the Me Issues Committee to make recommendations for conversion to a PTO plan. It is possible that leave currently accrued at the time of conversion to a PTO plan will be stored in “leave banks” for employees' use as needed.  Q: Will older employees accrue leave at a higher rate? Employees with more years of service will accrue leave at a higher rate. Q: Will we still be able to get a discount as a state employee for health care coverage? Yes. The conversion to an authority will have no impact on the discount policy. However, the discount policy will continually be evaluated for compliance with federal regulations. Q: What is the methodology for moving employees into authority classifications? There will be no change to the job classification structure when we convert to the authority. We expect to continually fine-tune the current classification structure over time to meet changing needs and conditions. Q: What will happen to my salary when the authority transition takes place? Is it possible that my salary will decrease? There will be no salary reductions with the transition to the authority. Q: What will be the authority's policy on overtime? There will be no changes to the overtime policy as a result of conversion to the authority. Q: Will the state human resources policies and procedures still apply to employees with 15 or more years of service? Medical Center employees will convert to the authority, regardless of years of service. All employees will continue to be eligible for participation in the state retirement and state insurance plans, but will not be subject to other state personnel regulations. The authority will adopt new personnel regulations, which will reflect or be similar to existing policies, for the most part. Policies will be changed or fine-tuned over time to meet Medical Center needs. Q: Will we go through another change management? No. Periodic organizational changes can be expected to occur, but no massive organizational change is planned as a result of the authority. Q: Will the EAP continue to be available under the authority? Yes. Q: When the authority occurs, will individuals in management positions retain their current titles and responsibilities? Yes. Q: Will there still be a need for student employees? Yes. Q: Will our current board of trustees stay intact? Yes. Q: What will be the future of CMH with the authority? During the past few years, CMH has been under university management.  As of July, CMH was reassigned to the Medical Center for oversight. We expect the authority structure will enhance management of operations, and be mutually beneficial to CMH and the Medical Center. Q: Will our conversion to the authority affect our membership with the University HealthSystem Consortium? No. Q: What happens to accumulated sick leave? No one will lose accrued leave at the time of the conversion. We have yet to determine the exact form the anticipated new PTO plan will take. The Medical Center has made a commitment to protect accrued annual and sick leave for all employees. Q: What happens to accumulated annual leave time? If leave is to be paid out, will there be a limit? No one will lose accrued leave. While we have not determined the details of the anticipated new PTO plan, we expect that all currently accrued annual leave will roll into a new PTO plan for employees who wish to do so. In terms of payout of currently accrued annual leave, employees may be given the option to “separate” from employment if they wish to cash in annual leave. (A commitment will be made to “rehire” any employee who wishes to separate for purposes of cashing in annual leave.) However, any employee who separates may not be able to transfer accrued sick leave. Q: Can employees with leave balances that exceed the maximum of the authority's anticipated PTO plan be grandfathered in with their current leave balances? Yes. Q: Will early retirement be offered? At this time, there is no plan to offer early retirement. Authority employees will continue to participate in the state retirement plan. Q: Can sick leave accrued as a state employee be used toward early retirement after the conversion? Yes, in accordance with the current state retirement system regulations. Q: What types of health care plans will the authority offer? Authority employees will continue to be offered the health care plan(s) available to state employees. Q: Will a preexisting condition, including pregnancy, interfere with our insurance after the authority conversion? No. Q: What happens to employees who have already met their deductibles? Will they have to start all over again midyear? No. Q: Will we have tuition assistance under the authority? Yes. Periodically, we will revisit the tuition assistance plan, but there will be no change as a direct result of the authority conversion. Me Issues Committee Members Susan Beason, Children's Services (beasons); Adell Bell, Adult Echo Lab (bellae); Cindy Brown, Radiology Services (brownc); Josie Craig, Occupational Therapy (craigjmc); Kim Greene, Institute of Psychiatry (greenek); Gail Hale, Central Supply (haleg); Stacia Lancaster, Laboratory Services (lancasts); Ray Manigault, Radiology Services (manigaul); Phyllis Malpas, DDC (malpas); Roberta Martin, Health Information Services (martinr); Joan McPherson, NNICU (macpherj); Sherry Gillespie Miller, Ambulatory Care Services (gilless); Dolores Reynolds, Children's Services (reynolds); Phyllis Watson, Respiratory Therapy (millermar); Audrey Wilder, Ambulatory Surgery (wildera); Cindy Williams, Patient Admissions (williacy); Laurie Zone-Smith, Clinical Services (zonel) Announcements Budgets Lisa Montgomery, administrator for Financial Services, said budgets will be distributed to the management team within the next two weeks.  New Manager Donna McClellan, director of Laboratory Services, introduced Vinnie Della Speranza, the new manager of Anatomic Pathology Services. Blood Donation Horseshoe Bloodmobiles in August Thursday, Aug. 5: 11 a.m. - 4 p.m.;  Tuesday, Aug. 10: 11 a.m. - 4 p.m.;  Wednesday, Aug. 18: 7:30 a.m. - 10:30 a.m.;  Friday, Aug. 27: 11 a.m. - 4 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 31: 8 a.m. - noon Please call Beth Medved at 852-2922 with any questions, to schedule an appointment to donate blood, or to find out how you can help the American Red Cross Blood Services. Platelet donors also are needed to help cancer and leukemia patients.  Please contact the MUSC Apheresis Center, room 267, Main Hospital, at 792-3340 or 852-2922. Y2K Message Read the MUSC Medical Center's policy A-47 on medical devices at (http://www.musc.edu/medcenter/policy).