Mentoring: P4P Programs
Question 1
A mentor is an experienced, empathetic, and highly regarded person that guides a mentee and his/her personal and professional development. A mentor acts as a preceptor who helps an inexperienced person in healthcare improve their clinical skills, care, and leadership (Lancer, Clutterbuck, & Megginson, 2016). Mentors provide coaching, guidance, and inspiration. Specifically, a mentor can act as a coach or cheerleader throughout the professional development of an individual. Additionally, a preceptor provides thoughtful feedback and guidance to enable the mentee to grow. Moreover, a mentor offers inspiration and influence in the career trajectory of another individual.
Question 2
Whereas a mentoring program is more development-driven, an education program is more performance-driven. Specifically, mentoring seeks to improve the current and future job functions and skills of an individual and is more focused on deploying a holistic approach to career development (Lancer, Clutterbuck, & Megginson, 2016). However, an education program seeks to impart individuals with current skills and competencies that can enable them to get a better job in their career. Also, an education program is more structured with regular classes, whereas a mentorship program is informal and is based on the needs of the mentee (Lancer, Clutterbuck, & Megginson, 2016). The plan of an education program is set by the instructor who understands the educational requirements of a specific task, whereas the mentee sets the agenda of a mentoring program.
Question 3
The different pay for performance (P4P) programs include pay for quality, pay for value, pay for efficiency, and pay for reporting. Pay for quality programs assess quality using various metrics such as outcomes, process, and structure (Cromwell et al., 2011). However, pay for value P4P programs measure performance based on quality and cost measures. Providers are rewarded for value if they improve on quality while also reducing costs. Pay-for-efficiency programs reward organizations and individuals based on both the reduction of costs and the containment of the same (Cromwell et al., 2011). Finally, the pay for reporting the P4P program is focused on the reported quality-related data by a provider.
Question 4
One of the points that need to be shared with new employees about P4P programs is that they are an indispensable part of the current healthcare environment. Additionally, they need to understand that P4P provides incentives for providers (healthcare organizations) and physicians (Cromwell et al., 2011). Also, new employees need to be told that the programs are focused on ensuring the improvement of performance. Moreover, the employees need to understand that P4P is majorly concerned about the metrics of improved quality and reduced costs of providing care. Finally, they should be made aware that the current healthcare environment requires financial incentives to be tied to the quality of care.
Question 5
Mentoring can be used in a P4P program to equip mentees with skills to use such programs to attain huge financial incentives effectively. For instance, mentors can use P4P programs to increase mentees’ knowledge about how to improve the quality of care and reduce healthcare costs (Cromwell et al., 2011). Additionally, mentoring in the P4P program can happen when mentors use their experience to show mentees how to maximize the different programs to attain financial incentives for themselves and the organizations that they serve. More importantly, mentoring can be vital in a P4P program in ensuring that new employees can understand how to use the programs and, ultimately, attain high scores in the different metrics measured.
References
Cromwell, J., Trisolini, M. G., Pope, G. C., Mitchell, J. B., and Greenwald, L. M., Eds. (2011). Pay for Performance in Health Care: Methods and Approaches. RTI Press publication No. BK-0002-1103. Research Triangle Park, NC: RTI Press.
Lancer, N., Clutterbuck, D., & Megginson, D. (2016). Techniques for coaching and mentoring. Routledge.