Rosemary Lambie, RN, administrator of the SurgiCenter of Baltimore, a five-OR ambulatory surgery center in Owings Mills, Md., makes five points about how the surgery center determines bonuses for employees.
1. Pool for bonuses. Each quarter the center pays employees bonuses from an available pool of $9,000. All staff who are at least half time are eligible, and distributions are not prorated based on their status. Distributions are weighted depending on four factors.
2. Weighted distributions. Distributions are weighted based on four factors: 35 percent for salaries wages and benefits if they remain below 34.8 percent of net revenue; 15 percent for supplies if they are held equal to 18 percent or less of net revenue; 25 percent for repairs and maintenance if the cost is $6,650 or less per month; and 25 percent if collections are 98 percent of the average net revenue for the previous two months, which allows for bad debt of 2 percent.
3. Distributing full amount is rare. Distribution of the full $9,000 occurred just once since program started in 2006. So far, 2007 was the best year, with $23,000 of the available $36,000 distributed.
4. No distinctions based on job title. All 20 employees equally share the payments, no matter what work they do. For example, the four people in the business office share the bonus for collections with everyone else. Everyone has an influence over this category because it is based on net revenue, Ms. Lambie says. Also, "we're a team," she says.
5. Other bonuses come up. The ASC may pay out other bonus in addition to the quarterly payouts. For example, the second quarter was quite profitable for the ASC, so the board decided to distribute an extra bonus of $300 per employee. The board also distributed a holiday bonus this year of $300 per person for full-time employees and $180 for part-time employees.
Learn more about the SurgiCenter of Baltimore.
Read more about bonus programs in ASCs:
- 4 Ways to Keep Profits Stable Even With Volume Declines: Mason City Surgery Center
- Using Quality Improvement to Improve ASC Collections: 4 Tips From AdvantEdge Healthcare Solutions