Job Advancement Within the

Coordinator Role

Kim Lanham, Residency Manager WVU Department of Ob/Gyn

Objectives

• Understand evolution of the Coordinator Role

in GME

• Examine the need for a system for

professional development and job

advancement within the coordinator position

• Understand the steps we took for upgrading

our job description and pay scale

“RPA’s 2010 Coordinator Salary Survey

shows most coordinators’ pay does not

reflect the skill level they possess to

successfully perform their jobs.”

Source: Residency Program Alert, December, 2010

The range, scope, and responsibility level

of job duties entrusted to residency

coordinators, has evolved tremendously

over the past two decades.

When the role of “coordinator” within

ACGME training programs started in the

late 80’s, it was seen as purely secretarial.

Someone who could execute the tasks

outlined by Program Directors, with direct

supervision, on a day-to-day basis.

In the couple of decades since, the role has

evolved from one that was primarily

secretarial with little direct responsibility,

to one that is largely administrative with

increasing amounts of responsibility for

all areas of program compliance.

At most institutions Program Directors

are still expected to be income producing

physicians. With budget constraints and

income expectations, more and more of

the day-to-day operation of the residency

program has naturally transitioned from

the Program Director to the Program

Coordinator.

According to the 2010 HCPro

article, coordinators state:

• 92% act as a communication liaison for the

program director

• 91% state that they participate in ACGME

accreditation activities

• 77% develop curriculum, create evaluations,

and document core competencies

• 65% develop and implement new policies and

procedures.

In a lot of cases, we are the first line of

communication with the ACGME, our

RRC, our specialty boards, our own

GME, hospital, and state licensing

boards.

We shoulder a fair amount of

responsibility for meeting deadlines for

data submissions and responsibility for

following proper protocols, that can have

severe consequences for our program.

So why then, at a lot of institutions, is our

position still primarily classified as

“secretarial”?

Our DIO raised this issue with HR in

2008. At that time their solution was to

reclassify the position from one listed

under the “Clerical” classification to one

listed under “Professional.

However, they didn’t adjust the salary to

reflect the change

“Coordinators are often met with confused looks when trying to explain what they do to HR, department administrators, and even some

program directors. To add to the confusion, there is no standardized job description for coordinators.

The responsibilities assigned to the job vary among institutions – sometimes even within an

institution. With so much variety, it’s not surprising that coordinators often get lumped into the “secretarial” category, even though their jobs require administrative and managerial skills.”

Source: HealthLeaders Media, October 12, 2010

Which was evidenced by what happened to

our position when our job classification

was moved from “secretarial” to

“professional”

Clerical Position Starting Wage

Administrative Assistant $11.53

Billing Analyst $10.20

Call Center Rep $9.54

Managed Care Specialist

$10.35

Medical Secretary $9.38

Patient Account Analyst $9.97

Patient Account Specialist

$10.47

Revenue Cycle Team Leader

$11.07

Secretary III $10.01

Scheduling Specialist $10.94

Supervisor Patient Registration

$10.87

AVG STARTING WAGE $10.39

Professional Position Starting Wage

Abstractor $13.57

Billing Manager $15.88

Billing Specialist $12.50

Communications Specialist

$17.86

Coordinator Alumni Programs

$14.12

Coordinator Residency Program

$12.15

Department Manager $13.64

Financial Reimbursement Analyst

$18.89

News Service Coordinator

$18.20

Research & Grants Coordinator

$16.41

Revenue Cycle Supervisor $12.30

AVG STARTING WAGE $15.05

Professional Position Starting Wage

Financial Reimbursement Analyst

$18.89

News Service Coordinator

$18.20

Communications Specialist

$17.86

Research & Grants Coordinator

$16.41

Billing Manager $15.88

Coordinator Alumni Programs

$14.12

Department Manager $13.64

Abstractor $13.57

Billing Specialist $12.50

Revenue Cycle Supervisor $12.30

Coordinator Residency Program

$12.15

AVG STARTING WAGE $15.05

So, it’s true that our

position got

upgraded from a

“CLERICAL” to a

“PROFESSIONAL”,

classification but

did we gain

anything?

Our salary was still

more closely aligned

to the clerical pay

scale, than it was to

the professional

one.

Luckily for us, our DIO understood the

expectations for the Coordinator Role and

was aware of the ever-increasing disparity

between our role and the job description

listed for the position with our HR

In 2011, he assembled a Committee and

charged us with the following tasks:

1.Updating the Job Description listed

with our Human Resources Department

to more accurately reflect our role.

2.Research salaries for similar positions

at other institutions

3.Determine the potential for career

advancement and skill development

within the role.

Questions

• Is the job description for Residency

Coordinators accurate at the HR level?

• Is the rate of pay in line with the job

requirements?

• Is the rate of pay in line with peers at similar

institutions?

• Is there a method of job advancement without

leaving the position?

Salary 2007 2008 2009 2010

Less than $30,000 13% 8% 6% 5%

$30,001 - $40,000 44% 40% 35% 32%

$40,001 - $50,000 27% 30% 35% 36%

$50,001 - $60,000 9% 20% 16% 18%

$60,001 - $70,000 4% 3% 6% 7%

More than $70,000 3% 0% 2% 3%

2007-2010 INCOME COMPARISON

Source: HCPro, Inc.

Salary 2007 2008 2009 2010

Less than $30,000 13% 8% 6% 5%

$30,001 - $40,000 44% 40% 35% 32%

$40,001 - $50,000 27% 30% 35% 36%

$50,001 - $60,000 9% 20% 16% 18%

$60,001 - $70,000 4% 3% 6% 7%

More than $70,000 3% 0% 2% 3%

2007-2010 INCOME COMPARISON

Source: HCPro, Inc.

Ass

Education 2007

High School Diploma 37%

Associate’s Degree 21%

Bachelor’s Degree 32%

Master’s Degree 10%

Doctorate 0%

Coordinator Education 2010 Survey

Source: HCPro, Inc.

Another interesting fact from the HCPro

Survey was that 55% of respondents

reported being salaried and only 45%

reported earning hourly wages. The

pendulum is swinging in the managerial

direction.

We addressed three key areas:

• Job Description – rewrite to reflect the

current tasks of a coordinator

• Salary – are we in line with national trends?

• Career Advancement – is it possible to create

the potential for this in the coordinator

position?

Job Description

Job Description • Started with the old job description from

inception – updated it to remove all

outdated job tasks and add many new

ones

• Found that with Human Resource

Departments, adjectives were critical

• Any word within a description that

indicates that you performed the task,

rather than was responsible for the

task, falls into a secretarial category

Job Description

• When re-writing the Coordinator Job

Description keep in mind:

• SUPERVISION – what tasks are you

responsible for that could be designated as

supervisory (duty hours, statistic entry, etc.) ?

• RESPONSIBILITY – what tasks are you

responsible for that could have serious

consequences for your program if performed

incorrectly?

Job Description

From a Human Resources standpoint,

SUPERVISION & RESPONSIBILITY

are the two key points that separate

the Coordinator Role from that of a

secretarial position.

Salary

Salary Survey

• We created a 27 question anonymous

survey using SURVEY MONKEY, which

we distributed to coordinators using

each specialty’s coordinator list-serve,

over a two-week period in February,

2011

• Distributed survey invitation via

specialty coordinator list-serves

Salary Survey

• Received 1,048 unique responses to the

survey

• 773 responses were from University

Based programs, which is the data that

we used for comparison

Salary Below Us Same As Above Us

WV and Neighboring States

8% 8% 84%

Neighboring States not including WV

16% 14% 70%

All States 5% 5% 90%

2011 SURVEY RESULTS

Source: WVU National Survey

In neighboring states (not including ours)

14% were in the $29,120 - $31,200

category for salary

In all states

9% were in the $31,200 - $33,280

category for salary

Highest Percentage of

Responders

Career

Advancement

Career Advancement

• Unlike many job classifications, the

Coordinator position is so unique and

specialized that there is often little or

no ability for job advancement.

• This is a key factor in turnover

within the coordinator position

Career Advancement

• We also did an in-house survey of our

Coordinators and Directors to gage

turnover, in 2011

• Average length of time in the

position Program Directors was

4.26 years

• Average length of time in the

position for Program Coordinators

was 8.79 years

•

Career Advancement

Just like with patient care, “continuity”

is important! This field has a huge

learning curve, and the knowledge that

Coordinators contribute to the

continuity of the program is invaluable.

So what can be done to assign value to

knowledge gained from experience?

Salary WVU National

0 – 3 Years 42% 26%

4 – 6 Years 11% 28%

7 – 10 Years 11% 18%

11 – 15 Years 13% 15%

16 – 20 Years 8% 19%

21 – 25 Years 5% 0%

25 Years & Up 11% 4%

COORDINATOR EXPERIENCE

Source: WVU National Survey

• Is it because salary is out of alignment

with job requirements, lack of

advancement opportunities, or both?

• Are we training coordinators and losing

them to career advancement?

In the 0 – 3 years of experience

category, WVU was above the

national percentage by 16%

Residency Coordinator

Tier System

Outline of Progressive Knowledge, Responsibilities, and Requirements

TIER 1

Residency Manager

Entry level skills and knowledge about residency program management

TIER 2

Program Administrator

Solid knowledge base of ACGME topics evidenced by accreditation by TAGME

TIER 3

Senior Program Administrator

Expert knowledge base of ACGME topics evidenced by re-accreditation by

TAGME

Results

Outcome

• A formal request for the Coordinator

position to be re-evaluated for

consideration of:

– Job Description to be rewritten to be

reflective of current responsibilities of

coordinator

– Salary increase in alignment with duties

– Tiered system for job advancement

Presented to Our HR

Supporting Documentation

Included

• Our salary survey information which

included national survey data, as well as

data from surrounding states only

• HCPro Salary Survey Data

• WVU Coordinator Years of Experience

data

• National Survey Coordinator Years of

Experience data

Additional Documentation

Included

• National avg for Program Director years

of experience

• WVU avg for Program Director years of

experience

• Cost of living comparison between our

state and surrounding states

• Comparative wage information from

neighboring institution

Additional Documentation

Included

• Comparative information about duties

between job categories within our own

institution

• Comparative information about salaries

between other position in the

professional category at our own

institution

Additional Documentation

Included

• Data for starting salaries for college

degree holders from West Virginia

University (data provided by www.payscale.com)

Outcome

• Accepted our revised job description that

classified the position into a professional

category

• Starting salary increase of 24.7%,

phased in over a three-year period which

started 1/1/2012

• Three Tiered career advancement

system was accepted

Our Human Resources Department

Thank You Dr. Norman Ferrari

Our DIO

Who supported us in this endeavor and fought to get

our position reclassified into a “professional”

category and a pay increase that was competitive

and fair for our position.