Feature / Listening exercise

From tweeting to magazine changes, the HFMA is responding to members’ suggestions.

Responding to a membership survey, the HFMA has taken on board feedback and outlined how it has addressed issues raised.

The survey asked for members’ views on a number of areas, including member services, Healthcare Finance, events and the association’s website. For example, responding to comments made in the member services section, the HFMA has now started tweeting about a variety of activities after respondents asked for more information via Twitter.

Many members requested the association become a more proactive and powerful voice. As a result, the HFMA is now working with a PR agency to develop its media profile. The work will be steered by a new committee, the HFMA Communications Group, to ensure the appropriate focus is maintained.

Magazine updates

Members made several suggestions for Healthcare Finance – it should boost its news coverage to take in wider health service news as well as NHS finance news; increase introductory features for junior finance and non-finance staff; and give more feedback from the association’s groups and committees.

The magazine has already reorganised its news pages, launching a ‘News review’ section, which takes a look at the month’s NHS news in the round. It has also introduced ‘Finance explained’ and ‘Introduction to…’ articles, which appear in each issue and aim to give readers basic guides to current issues in and aspects of NHS finance.

Eight in 10 of the respondents were aware of the HFMA news alert service – daily updates of the latest NHS finance news, which are rounded up in a weekly email sent to members each Friday lunchtime.

Alerts generally include links to original documents. For example, a recent alert on the launch of the final arrangements for payment by results in 2012/13 has a link taking members directly to the Department of Health website page that includes David Flory’s covering letter, the report on the arrangements and associated documents such as the maternity pathway and a technical paper on the market forces factor.

The association continues to raise the profile of the alerts service, as well as refining the content by checking as many sources as possible to bring members the most up-to-date service across the UK.

The news alerts pages were the second most popular on the HFMA’s website, according to the survey. More than half of respondents said they had read the alerts on the site, though the events pages were by far the most popular (almost seven in 10 had visited these pages). Four in 10 had read the current or past issues of Healthcare Finance online, while a similar number have used the publications page.

Member areas

Survey respondents asked to be sent a reminder of how to access the member sections of the website, and the association is contacting members to confirm access details to member areas. The HFMA has said a complete redesign of the website is being considered, but in the meantime improvements will be made on an ongoing basis to help navigation around the site.

While almost 92% of members would recommend HFMA events to colleagues, some respondents asked for more local CPD, networking and training events.

In particular, the ‘Take control’ programme, which was run during 2011 – and elements of which are part of 2012 HFMA president Sue Jacques’ theme for the year, ‘Making a difference’ – offered free CPD locally for all levels of finance staff.

The HFMA says it wants to work towards sharing more good practice between individual branches. It is also committed to increasing the range of services it has on offer for all levels of finance staff.

The HFMA would like to pass on its thanks to all those members who took part in the survey. The association will be surveying members again later this year to ensure it stays in touch with their views.