Welcome to the South Texas Chapter of the American College of Healthcare Executives website! STC is the local independent chapter of the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE) for a geographic service area that includes approximately 50,000 square miles of South Texas. It’s an exciting and challenging time to be involved in healthcare leadership, and the STC is committed to providing a forum for advancement and excellence within our profession. Our mission is to be the premier professional membership society for healthcare executives; to meet members’ professional, educational, and leadership needs; to promote high ethical standards and conduct; to advance healthcare leadership and management excellence; and to promote and support the mission of the American College of Healthcare Executives.
2017 Student Scholarship Applications Accepted: Now through Oct 31, 2017!
STC-ACHE 2017 Scholarship Application
Above is the Application Packet for the four 2017 STC-ACHE Scholarships. Please ensure the widest distribution possible to our eligible Graduate Student population. We always appreciate the selection of the scholarship winners to be as competitive as possible. This way we can reward the most deserving student. Each applicant must submit the packet to the South Texas Chapter at stc@achechapter.org no later than October 31, 2017.
The goal of the Scholarship Committee is to review all applications and make scholarship selections not later than Christmas 2017, so that the funds can be distributed in time to help the awardees pay for the 2nd Semester tuition or to support their stated purpose. Each awardee will also be recognized at the 2018 South Texas Healthcare Landscape event that will be held on Friday, February 23, 2018.
Member Survey Coming May 8!
On May 8, ACHE will launch the annual Chapter Member Needs Survey which provides necessary feedback on the programs and services ACHE Chapters provide, and provide the individual chapter result with respect to Member Satisfaction that will be used to determine if the chapter meets or exceeds the 4.1 out of 5.0 “Level of Member Satisfaction” Chapter Award Standard.
This survey is sent out via personalized emails containing links to our survey provider’s website. Please be aware that the survey link is specific to the member; the survey link cannot be forwarded to other individuals. It will be sent to all members who can receive emails from us if they have been a member of the chapter for at least a year. Reminder emails are scheduled for May 15 and May 22. Data collection will close on May 26.
In the last few years, we have had some issues with organizations whose security software blocks their staff from receiving our survey emails. We are asking for your help with the following to try to prevent such a situation from affecting the results for your chapter.
We are alerting you to this issue so that you can help if the situation arises in your area. Specifically:
- Please check your spam consoles first if you do not receive the survey email. We have noticed that when our survey emails are blocked by other organizations, the email is often found in the organization’s spam console.
- If we are notified quickly that members with business emails at a particular organization aren’t getting the survey, we can address the situation in a timely way.
- Contact the Chapter President, Lynn Downs, if there are any issues: lynntdowns@yahoo.com
President’s Blog: The Generational Gap
December 16, 2016: I was recently at a strategy meeting where we discussed reaching out and providing service to our customers or constituents. As the discussion continued, it appeared that we broke down our plan using generational categories. The Millennial was thought to be self-absorbed and impatient, while very tech savvy. The Boomers were thought to be hard working, loyal, and more set in their ways. Should we really stereotype each generation to make decisions on how to serve our customers? [Read the entire blog here]
President’s Blog: Communication for Change
November 9, 2016: Well, that was quite an election cycle with shocking results for many. So, where do we go from here? How do we take what has been a divisive environment and unify a country to set sights on a clear vision for the future? Or can we? Are we talking transformation here or will it be business as usual? [Read the entire blog post here]
President’s Blog Post: Experience versus Satisfaction
I’ve read a few articles recently that talked about patient experience versus patient satisfaction and how we need to change our survey methods to match and trend those qualities in health care. Are we splitting hairs here? In one of the articles, it breaks down in two columns the alleged difference between the two. I ponder whether or not the patient distinguishes between satisfaction and experience… [read the rest of the blog here]
President’s Blog Post: VIP Health Care
I read an article recently entitled, “VIP Syndrome can be a risk in caring for stars.” It talked about the death of Prince and Michael Jackson, and how special medical care put them in a position to depend on treatment that was considered outside the standard of care and dangerous. Most had to do with the treatment of pain, but it mostly concerned the prescribing and delivery of pain medication such as fentanyl, and the anesthetic propofol, used in Michael Jackson’s case to ease his pain and help him sleep. [Read the full blog post here]
2017 Proposed Slate of Officers/Directors
2017 PROPOSED SLATE of New STC-ACHE4
Here is the proposed slate of officers and directors, starting their terms in 2017. If you wish to nominate anyone for the positions listed, please follow the instructions on the bottom of the attachment. Contact us if you have any questions!
President’s Blog Post: Diversity and Inclusion
Today, I sat through a webinar on Diversity and Inclusion. There were two chapters that touted their successes in this area of health care. If you haven’t heard or read, there are two new communities in the ACHE forum. They are the Asian and LGBT communities. At first I read that membership had to join one of these communities. I inquired and ACHE Corporate said that it wasn’t a requirement… [Read the full blog post here]
STC-ACHE Graduate Student Scholarship Opportunity
Our annual scholarship application period is open! Applications are due by October 31, 2016. See our Awards page for details and to download the application.