AROUND UMHS

This section offers a glimpse into some some major happenings in the Health System community.

• The U-M School of Nursing and UMHS Nursing joined forces to create an onsite Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree completion program. Now, registered nurses who work in the Health System and want to earn their BSN degrees can do so by attending weekly classes at the hospital. Students also receive mentorship and support from the UMHS Nurse Retention Team. For more information, contact Juanita Parry or call 734-647-9214.
  
  
• M-CARE Connect is a new secure internet portal that enables M-CARE members to review claims histories, view authorizations, check deductible and out-of-pocket balances (applicable only for certain plans), see a list of eligible dependents, and complete a confidential health survey—all online, 24/7! In the future, the portal will be available to M-CARE providers, employer groups and insurance agents as part of an ongoing effort to make it easy and convenient to do business with M-CARE. For more information, send an e-mail.
  
  
• CSP: Where are we now? Human Resources is gearing up for phase two of the Classification System Project. The next steps include: establishing an appropriate and competitive UMHS compensation philosophy, assigning salary ranges to each market title, and formalizing the competencies and responsibilities that define the levels of each job so employees can more easily identify career paths.
  
  
• The Medical School’s Office of Research and Graduate Studies recently launched Biomedical Pathways, a periodic publication that highlights the latest cutting-edge biomedical research at the U-M. The first issue came out in August 2005 and educated readers about our stem cell research, one of the more “front-and-center” topics in science today. Biomedical Pathways is written for a broad audience including scientists, alumni and individuals involved in business development and technology transfer. For more information, visit www.med.umich.edu/medschool/orgs.
  
  
• For the sixth year in a row, M-CARE received an Excellent Accreditation from the National Committee for Quality Assurance for its Commercial HMO and Medicaid plans. Only plans that demonstrate levels of service and clinical quality that meet or exceed NCQA’s rigorous requirements for consumer protection and quality improvement receive the Excellent Accreditation, the highest rating NCQA offers. For more information, visit www.ncqa.org.