In today's fierce business climate, healthcare companies are coming under increasing pressure to cut costs to stay competitive. Today, more and more hospitals are closing due to rising costs and several hospitals have had to resort to offering bonds or other debt to try to break even. In addition, malpractice insurance has become increasingly expensive forcing executives to cut down their operations to the bare bones.

But what if a CNO, CEO, CFO, CIO or HR could cut costs without actually cutting anything? I surmise it is possible by simply implementing an eMentoring program. A mentoring solution may require a small upfront investment; nevertheless the benefits vastly outweigh the costs. The costs to establish a mentoring program has vastly come down over the years as companies have leveraged technology to provide a more efficient and cost conscious product for healthcare organizations of any size.

One important point to recognize is that for a mentoring program to be successful, it needs to start from the top. Also, mentoring programs that are implemented only in certain areas, such as the ER, will ultimately end too soon or end unsuccessfully. By having the direction and driving force of the CNO, CEO, CFO, or CIO behind it, this will effect the entire organization, truly driving change. This top-end direction will ensure the mentoring program has proper funding, visibility, and a commitment to keep it going. When a mentoring program is implemented properly, the anticipated benefits and outcomes are tied directly to a company's profits.

The best mentoring programs are online mentoring programs. Mentoring partners are able to communicate back and forth through web-enabled technology, asking and answering questions from each other. Also, a mentoring portal allows an organization to show company news and programs to keep grassroots employees informed about the latest staff development and training. Additionally, users can find a perfect match based on skills and needs. Paper-based mentoring programs, while still good, are expensive to maintain and less efficient.

The benefits of a mentoring program are concrete and will positively effect a company's bottom line. These are the five main factors that will lead to higher profits and I will detail in this paper:

1. Enhance training and motivation to improve the quality of care,

2. Improve staff retention,

3. Create a powerful recruitment tool,

4. Implement an efficient Learning Management System (LMS) to improve a JCAHO Compliance Score,

5. And attain Magnet Recognition.

1. Enhance training and motivation to improve the quality of care - Healthcare companies have a huge amount of talent within their doors. This talent is waiting to be tapped into and shared with co-workers. By pairing experience mentors with less-experienced mentees, knowledge can be shared. These mentoring teams are invaluable, especially in teaching things that are not taught in school. By creating these relationships, not only will the mentee gain hands on experience from skilled professionals in the company, but the mentee will also feel as though they are special because someone is taking the time to ensure they succeed. This increases the mentee's motivation and job satisfaction. Additionally, the organization can create leaders by enhancing the decision making and knowledge of less experienced staff. Mentees will be able to survive and thrive in rapidly changing environments.

The benefits are not only on the side of the mentee in this relationship. The mentor benefits too. Being a mentor is a very rewarding experience. Mentors will help their mentee develop professionally, and in the process gain skills such as in reverse mentoring where the latest procedures that the mentee learned from school can now be shared with their mentor. Especially for younger mentors, a relationship with a mentee will allow the mentor to practice managerial skills and build professional networks in the healthcare community.

All of these factors come together to improve the quality of care and safety in the organization so that the patients will truly benefit. Employees will be happier, morale will be higher, and the workforce will be more skilled. In addition, preservation of intellectual capital will allow new managers to be primed for these roles by the previous managers.

2. Improve staff retention - Once participants begin to benefit from the mentoring program, they will be happier, motivated, and satisfied on the job. Mentees in particular will appreciate that the company is making an effort to ensure they are fully trained, comfortable, and successful in their job. Mentors will appreciated that their peers can now take on more responsibilities, be more focused, and less stressed. The work environment will become less hectic and better suited to handle an increasing number of challenges.

If staff members are happy, then they are less likely to look elsewhere for employment. Retention will improve because mentors are able to quickly respond to any concerns that a mentee might have and provide guidance. These ?employee friendly? organizations benefit from reduced costs due to less attrition, which results in greater institutional stability.

3. Create a powerful recruitment tool - Everyone knows that people talk, and most likely nurses and doctors are friends with other nurses and doctors at other healthcare organizations. When staff at other organizations hear about the supportive mentoring program in place at your organization and how efficient and satisfied the employees are, they will want to sign up too. This saves costs on recruiting because the candidates will come to the company's doorstep on their own. Therefore, expensive-to-use recruiters won't be called upon to search for candidates.

A productive mentoring program is adaptable and can be used as a recruitment tool. Not only will potential employees be excited that they can be a part of a company that has a supportive work environment, but they can also participate in the program. One powerful recruitment tool is to setup an outreach mentoring system with a local educational institution to recruit potential employees from the students in nursing or med school, or in other clinical or non-clinical areas. Students often have questions that can only be answered by someone already in the field.

Having a mentor as a reference to ask questions and share thoughts with is a treasured resource. The mentee gets help and guidance while the organization gets the opportunity to have one-on-one conversations with the mentee about the organization. The mentor would become a welcoming ?ambassador? for the organization and could help determine if the mentee is a good fit.

4. Implement an efficient LMS to boost JCAHO inspection - Part of a mentoring program's focus is to increase the knowledge of staff. So, when implementing a mentoring program, it is also a good opportunity to analyze other ways the staff could be trained. Specifically, a web-based LMS (Learning Management System) would be a more cost-effective tool to use.

Paper-based systems have slowly grown out of date for a number of reasons. Paper is expensive and to prepare for each new class, new booklets need to be printed and stored. It is critical to keep accurate records of which employees have taken what courses. Individual tracking, reporting, and doing it manually is time consuming and expensive.

Today, the most efficient LMSs are done online in a virtual training environment. Tracking and reporting is all done automatically in the online system, thus allowing an organization to put resources where they are needed. Online LMSs are engaging and can respond in real-time to fill knowledge gaps. Additionally, in conjunction with a mentoring program, mentoring partners can together and in real-time collaborate on what is being learned in the LMS class and begin to apply it in the real world. The LMS will enable e-mentoring to allow the mentor to critique the mentee's performance in the LMS classes and provide immediate feedback online. Some programs may also have an online learning community function so that individuals can ask questions regarding patient care and company practices and get answers from qualified employees. This is another effective avenue for training and development.

Starting an LMS gives the impression of having to invest significant amounts of capital to get the system going. This can be true if your organization needs an ultra-customized LMS. Fortunately, a number of LMSs are already built and ready for cost-effective implementation. Some even come with learning content included such as courses designed to ensure all individuals and departments are up to latest JCAHO (Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations) standards. Some LMSs also have the option of just using the LMS system as a shell and allowing the organization to input its own content, i.e., courses, in-services, educational credits, etc.

These online LMSs also have tracking and reporting functionality to help you pinpoint which staff needs training to prepare for a JCAHO team who comes for an unscheduled visit. Tracking success metrics is important to determine what stage in development an organization is in.

So, be sure to include the LMS in the analysis when reviewing your company's mentoring and learning programs needs. Having a more efficient LMS can dramatically reduce costs, improving a company's bottom line. A mentoring program combined with a quality LMS will increase the speed at which your staff is trained and ready.

5. Attain the Magnet Recognition - Attaining Magnet Hospital status is key. The Magnet Recognition Program distinguishes hospitals that have exemplary nursing programs. This status helps with recruiting and retaining nurses because it shows that other nurses have been successful at an organization, are happy, and will be less inclined to leave. This definitely relates to increase profits as I have described in points 2 and 3 above. Not only will the recruitment and retention of nurses be improved but this also translates to improved recruitment and retention of other disciplines, especially physicians, because they know they will be supported by a hospital that will be around for a long time.

But how does an organization attain the Magnet status? An important factor is having a productive mentoring program in place. The American Nurses Credentialing Center which designates Magnet Hospitals, notes that ?Core values such as empowerment, pride, mentoring, nurturing, respect, integrity, and teamwork are demonstrated in Magnet facilities.?

If an organization has both the Magnet status and a high JCAHO score with an efficient LMS to tie it all together, increased profits will come. All of these programs are great for public relations and the hospital should get several articles in local and state papers about how these initiatives are improving the quality of care. This exposure will also help word-of-mouth advertising, especially for being a forward-thinking organization that has implemented a technology based mentoring platform. And the more people that know about a hospital and are excited about being a part of it ? the more patients and staff will come on board leading to increased revenue and profit.