You Are the Director of a Large HIM Department with 150

Essay

You are the Director of a large HIM department with 150 employees in a major urban teaching hospital. Right now, the hospital is running in the black, but this has not always been the case. The organization's HR department is working with senior management to come up with a proactive plan to avoid layoffs when and if the economy begins to falter. HR and senior management want to be sure that responsible staffing decisions continue to be made. A principle is that the staffing plan for all departments, including HIM, should be cost-justified and shown to be linked to and drive the hospital's incremental business results.
HR is working with all departmental directors to plan for up-and-down business cycles. HR is asking, "When the economic cycle falls apart again, what are we going to do? Let's think about what steps we can take now to prevent layoff pain later on." In preparing to meet with the HR representative, you talk with your management team and brainstorm some alternative ideas. What are some of the approaches you and your team come up with to discuss with HR?