Terrible place to work as a pharmacist, even worse place to receive care as a patient
Pharmacists are not valued as medication experts at HCA. They are simply viewed as enforcers of the formulary; pawns that will help the company save on drug expenditures and ensure optimal profit margins. The shareholders take precedence over all else, incluing sick and dying patients.
Attempting to grow and expand services at the facility level is not allowed. Decisions in this regard are driven from the corporate office and are generally extremely short sighted. The onus placed on facility-level pharmacy is to do more with less. When the case is made that additional staff is needed, the answer is always "no." Small hospitals especially find themselves woefully under staffed; so much so that patient safety is compromised. The argument that deploying an adequate number of pharmacists to perform clinical work will improve patient outcomes thereby reducing total costs of care (which is well substantiated by evidence) is given no merit.
The formulary decision making process is driven from the corporate level and is fraught with short-sightedness and generally poor judgment. The basis of nearly all decisions is reduction of direct drug expenditures. No consideration is given to patient outcomes or evaluation of costs from a broader perspective. Certain medications are essentially banned from use due to their cost, regardless of whether their use would result in the best outcome for the patient. Whether a pharmacy department is managing their supply expense well is evaluated ba
Over the 10+ years I've worked at HCA in various IT&S positions in the southeast divisions, the company went through some significant changes. Projects became much more 'cookie-cutter', defined by corporate, and left little wiggle room for common sense. They are entering the late stages of what I would call the "virtual savings" period of Lean, meaning the pressure to meet the corporate demand for more efficiency and savings starts having the opposing effect. The pendulum has clearly swung the other way now as supervisors and managers alike are struggling to make up new ways of how they "saved" money for the company in a last-ditch effort to promote themselves. This has lead to a worsening culture (as long-term Lean initiatives always do) which shows little signs of repairing itself until management changes. Once investors start seeing X amount of savings made this year, it is next to impossible to turn those expectations back to a realistic level.
There are clearly 2 classes of staff at HCA facilities: professional and management. I rarely saw a member of any level of management leave work late. They average about 45 hours a week and have a rather cushy position. Most of the managers and directors I worked with were enrolled in an online college and would spend large parts of their day completing their schooling so they could move up in the company. In the meantime, most professional positions were being worked a minimum of 60 hours a week with little compensatio
ProsLOTS of experience with a very diverse set of skills
ConsDivisions are IT sweatshops until you make management
There is no typical day at work. The work flow is not constant or reliable. Your hours can be 40 a week, or 50 if they TELL you to work over time, or 30 if they don't have work for you (if you require 30 hours a week of pay, be prepared to use your time off hours to cover the gaps in your paycheck, which means you can't take a scheduled day off when you need it because you'll be out of hours already). On top of this, the office was under staffed for the most part. Open six days a week for 12 hours a day, yet only five people worked there. Management told us we were over staffed and was looking to cut hours and fire someone at the drop of a hat.
If they tell you that you have a set schedule it's a lie, they schedule you whenever they want you there and if you complain you get written up. You are required to work holidays, unless they decide to close for a holiday which they won't tell you until the week of so you can't make plans (this includes Christmas, Thanksgiving, and New Years). They claim it's because the work needs to get done that day, but don't have a problem mailing work to you from out of state, causing that work to have a 4-5 day waiting period before it gets done.
Family emergencies are not acceptable reasons for being late, having to leave, or calling out. If the hospital is open, your office is open, even if the hospital is closed to the minimum of ER only and everyone else sent home, you are expected to be at work. In fact, anything that makes it hard for yo
Consmanagement barely knows your name, inconsistant hours, no one cares about work/quality.
• Managed requirements for creating new templates from doctors and nurses through interviews.
• Involved in all phases of implementation of a central Epic billing system. (Resolute and Prelude).
• Organized and facilitated meetings with the management and development team and conducted the requirement gathering sessions with the purpose of creating and defining the Business and Functional Requirement Document (BR/FR) using Requisite Pro.
• Worked on analysis of the Facets claims processing application in order to gather requirements to comply with HIPAA 5010 requirements.
• Used Meditech 6.0 Electronic Medical Records to create templates and documents for EMR.
• Monitored and controlled project schedule, scope, quality and cost.
• Documented Business Requirement Documents (BRD) and Requirement Specification Document (RSD).
• Analyzed business requirements and segregated them into high level and low level Use Cases, Activity and State diagrams using MS Visio, suggested and managed improvements in the process.
• Responsible for Process modeling (BPMN: as-is, to-be), analysis and optimization
• Managed design and development of a global cache across multiple WebSphere servers.
• Managed project budgets, risk analysis and mitigation, issue management, root cause analysis, project schedule development and tracking using MS Project.
• Utilized Mercator as an EDI mapping tool to map the claims data that passes through the EDI gateway to the Facets claims processing appl
HCA: St. David's Medical Center is the best hospital I have ever worked for
I work in Intermediate Care at SDMC and I have to say it is the best hospital I've ever had the pleasure of being employed by.
I work night shift and twelve hour shifts. At our hospital we do bedside report, so we get report and the patient's whiteboard is updated to show the change of shift. I introduce myself and discuss the plan of care for the evening with the patients, answering any questions they might have and making sure they are good with the four P's (pain, position, potty, personal items) The majority of our patients (with very few exceptions) are on the bedside monitor and we take hourly vital signs, so I take those into account with report and prioritize my care based on the information recieved. Assessments are done along with evening medications and then patients are bathed and their gowns and linens are changed. Focused assessments are constantly being performed throughout the shift so that we are able to recognize any changes in the patients status and optimize patients outcomes. After all assessments are done, medications are given and patients are able to bathe, patients are assisted to get comfortable for the evening so that hopefully they are able to sleep. As long as patient's are stable, I only wake them when I have to for things such as neurological checks, turning and repositioning and scheduled and prn medications to keep the patient's comfortable and stable. At about 0300, if I have patients with a PICC, I draw labs and get their daily weights, t
ProsGreat staff, great resources
ConsSchedule is hard on home life, pay is not competitive and raises do not cover cost of living increases
I've been with this company for 8 years in a remote insurance verification role. During those 8 years my pay has gone from $13 per hour to $15 per hour with zero promotions, despite zero call ins, 100% productivity met and 100% on every single QA. Plus consistent praise by management. I have seen 5 managers, helped train them, played a part in ensuring they shine in their roles, and watched each get promoted at least once, whilst continuing to see an influx of new college grads getting hired directly into management. So, if you're looking for a place to advance, have a degree in business managment. I have a B.A., but not in business management so, non promotable.
I worked as a registrar in the emergency room at first, it was chaotic, but as long as you're OK with a fast paced environment with crazy hours, the work is fine, even satisfying. The worst part of that position is that the nurses were extremely rude to us. We were low on the totem pole and made to feel it.
After transitioning into my current position I loved it. It was Monday -Friday, 7AM-3PM. Low stress, work that allowed you to challenge yourself with reasonable expectations and plenty of room to excel. It was a company that not only had an objective of patient care I could get behind, but one that I believe truly cared for its employees. Fast forward to now, the dollar is the new bottom line. They are in the process of transferring our work to a cheaper, overseas vendor and the transition has gone so poorly tha
ProsGood benefits, excellent direct managment
ConsNO advancement opportunities, Company is going in negative direction
Did not learn as much as I had hoped when I accepted the position
I learnt that the practice I worked for was complete chaos since long before I started there. Huge turnover rate (10+ employees left in about a 2 year timeframe), poor communication, poor management; training was virtual but mostly learn-as-you-go as hardly anyone had time to train due to the work flow. Strongly recommends the company hires a regional trainer to formally train all employees so that there is consistency and nobody is left wondering what to do from one work station to the next. For this particular practice, the pay did not match the expected workload. Poor work/life balance; employees not leaving until 7pm/8pm as they are gotten onto for not being a week ahead on charts or appointment confirmations although struggling to complete daily tasks due to the lack of proper staffing...then gotten onto about overtime. Daily, last minute rescheduling because of change in Provider’s schedule; many patients upset/left practice as that’s what the practice has become known for and consider it to be poor patient care. Physicians arguing with employees and belittling them in front of patients/staff and management shrugging it off because it’s a Provider, all the while telling the staff that “Here, we’re family!” More like Favoritism to me; some employees got by with things that others were gotten onto about. I genuinely enjoyed the front desk role but sought growth several times, informed my manager, and nothing ever came of it. The stress became too much for me and when I t
ProsFree lunches by pharmaceutical reps, interacting with a diverse clientele and helping them reach optimal health
ConsWork/life balance, Under staffed, poor management, Provider privilege
2.0
Technical Support Specialist | Austin, TX | Oct 7, 2021
HCA Service desk is being ran into the ground
I would highly look elsewhere to start your help desk career, they expect you to handle 60 calls a day, do web tickets, and some how expect you to create knowledge base articles in your time between calls. How can you achieve that when you have back to back calls 24/7? Oh and the fun doesnt stop there, you are taking calls from everywhere and all the processes are different from each hospital. So imagine 1 hospital doing 1 process for an application and another hospital a different process for that same application and HCA has over 160 hospitals. For that 1 application you would need to know over 160 different types of processes. The kbs there are incomplete and mostly out of date. Whats even worst is management, they are hard into the metrics and when they say "oh its only half the story, we need to know the half on why your arent meeting your metrics" dont believe them. You are offically on there naughty list. If you speak up to management (ie. Directors or above) they will have no issue getting rid of you right then and there. They know nothing about work and life balance. They expect you to be super thankful for having a job when right now there are a tons of other better paying jobs. When everything was local, The service desk was a smooth running machine but now which they opened the local service desk to take calls across the US destroyed the well oiled machine. Its gotten so bad alot of the local hospitals are bypassing the service desk and calling the local techs for
ProsMet some great friends there
ConsManagement, work life balance, poor benefits, culture is toxic, Management, training, false expectations
Let me tell you, HCA is a wonderful company overall! The pay and benefits (Health insurance, PTO, 401 K, college tuition reimbursement, incentives discounts/free onsite gym, etc.) were phenomenal! They provided 7-8 weeks of thorough, paid training to prepare you for the floor. The upper management teams truly cares about their staff and I met some of the nicest people. They are big on Philanthropy and volunteer opportunities which I enjoyed as I love to help others. The only issue was the position itself. Onboarding candidates was simply not for me. Not to mention our position required metrics and was solely performance based. Meaning if you didn’t meet your quota each day/month you would receive counseling, and would eventually be let go. It was also a call center which meant hiring managers from all over the US would call to chew you out asking why their candidates haven’t been confirmed. Very fast paced/high stress position. Also weekends were required as well as most holidays since “healthcare never closes”. Also taking time off (PTO) was an issue. Even if you put in a request off months in advance that was approved, you would still be placed on the schedule and it would be up to YOU to find someone to switch with. If you had to take off without finding a replacement then YOU would be penalized. That totally defeats the purpose of request offs! Management refused to take any part in that process which isn’t fair. We all have things going on outside of work. Also, they sa
ProsCommunication, Training, Management, Training, Benefits, Compensation, Culture, great people overall
ConsHigh Turnover, Heavy on metrics, weekends/holidays required, limited professional growth opportunities, strict attendance policy/taking off work can be an issue
5.0
Director of Human Resources | Nashville, TN | Feb 12, 2013
Dynamic, Community oriented, Employee focused company
Oversight and responsibility for the full scope operation of a human resource department servicing IT&S employees company wide.
Provide employee relations support through training and investigations. Provides recommendations for resolution of issues.
Consults with managers on performance and disciplinary issues, and provides support for counseling and termination actions.
Plans, implements, and directs the Human Resources functions supporting IT&S. Directs HR staff and serves as the escalation for their daily operations. This oversight includes HR transactions and processes executed by HR Coordinators and Generalists in the area of Lawson processing / actions, reporting, immigration, leave management, and benefit escalations.
Job analysis, pricing, and market data review as needed; creates and maintains compensation policies, programs, and structure for Field Operations for IT&S along with joint ventures and partnerships, ensuring compliance and alignment.
Develop and implement the short and long-term priorities for the IT&S HR Support model back office and COE areas.
Determines practices and protocols for use of standard HR systems for Field Ops IT&S and other joint ventures and partnerships.
Lead and manage the transition of acquisitions and migrations into the IT&S organization.
Consults with the Director of Organizational Initiatives and the HR Consultant on organizational effectiveness, organizational development, and learning / training programs for IT&S. Respon
Questions And Answers about HCA Corporate
If you were to leave HCA Healthcare, what would be the reason?
Asked Mar 16, 2017
Medical office is understaffed and the amount of patients that are scheduled is ridiculous. This is a one way road to big mistakes being made. I wish HCA practiced what they preach that patients come first unfortunately money and budgets and numbers come first. The upper management is a complete joke who have no clue what they are doing. If you are looking to apply here I would RUN.
Answered Mar 9, 2020
Extremely poor management. Turnover is horrible. Favoritism is very noticeable, and manager let me know I was being pushed out. Office is always understaffed, and they only care about the bottom line.. money! I have worked in the medical field for many years and can honestly say I have never seen anything like this, truly I feel sorry for the patients. If you question anything about what I call illegal practices going on you are out. I believe this will all catch up with HCA and we will one day be hearing about it on the news.
Answered Mar 9, 2020
If you were in charge, what would you do to make HCA Healthcare a better place to work?
Asked Feb 2, 2017
Stop the favortism .
Answered Jun 26, 2020
Stop the favoritism that some managers show to employees who think they know it all.
Answered Apr 17, 2020
What is the interview process like at HCA Healthcare?
Asked Jul 23, 2016
Two interviews one with 3 people asking questions related to experience. 2nd interview was a peer interview with 2 peers. First interview was a getting a feel for you, your experience, tell you about the company. 2nd interview was with like 10 questions that were generated based on the assessment completed with the application.
Answered Jan 13, 2021
Very generic; limited applicants so not picky
Answered Jun 5, 2020
How flexible are your working hours at HCA Healthcare?
Asked Mar 15, 2020
Very flexible
Answered Oct 30, 2020
You make your own schedule a month in advance but they can change it to match their needs.
Answered Jun 7, 2020
What is the best part of working at HCA Healthcare?
