The American Nurses Association (ANA) offered the opportunity to conduct a two year pilot project on Multistate Divisions (MSD). Currently there are three multistate pilots formed: the northeast, midwest and western states. Missouri Nurses Association chose to participate and is included in the Midwest MSD along with state nurses associations (SNAs) in Kansas and Nebraska.
The Midwest MSD pilot program launched on May 1, 2013 and through our due diligence processes we found several opportunities to increase operating efficiencies within the participating SNAs. These include:
- Launching a call center to enable all SNAs to have their phone answered by an attendant
- Offering financial and accounting services within the MSD and reducing individual SNA expenditures for these services with other providers
- Providing common policies and procedure templates to support SNA operations
- Identifying nurse planners to help plan events co-provided within the MSD
- Instituting a weekly electronic Professional RN Update Email “Lighting the Way”
- Implementing a Midwest MSD Continuing Education Accredited Approved and Provider Unit
What is this MSD all about?
The Midwest MSD will operate as a cooperative yet retain the unique state identities. There is a great opportunity to leverage the mass of several state operations with unifying tools and technologies, while providing the constituent their unique state-specific experiences and utilizing the ANA capabilities.
The Midwest MSD will implement a stream-lined business operations model that leverages common capabilities of the SNAs and ANA to enhance the multistate operations. Through this joint, collaborative effort the Midwest MSD will be more efficient and profitable, allow for more effective advocacy and membership recruitment, and retention efforts in the SNAs. The overarching goal is for the SNAs to grow and become more vital and visible in the future.
The Midwest MSD will develop a model for work flow to include the function and percentage of time spent on MSD functions, train and transition staff to new positions, roles, functions, and responsibilities, address any function design problems, and ensure quality output of MSD functions.
The criteria for success of the Midwest MSD function will be to increase revenue for each SNA; transfer of SNA operational business functions and processes (as applicable) to the Midwest MSD; increase in membership within the division; increase visibility and viability for each SNA; and that members will see increase responsiveness and relevance from their SNA.
The establishment of best practice operational work and function for the Midwest MSD will be a work in progress. The SNAs will work collaboratively and in partnership to achieve the greater goal.
This pilot creates multiple opportunities for SNAs to work together and work smarter in the future. Understand the pilot is a work in process and we will try different ideas to see what works and what may not work. One of our goals is to have at least one staff person in each SNA who is actively working on membership recruitment/retention and advocacy. Some of the SNAs involved in the Midwest MSD already have staff, which is wonderful; however for those SNAs who currently do not have staff our goal is to help that SNA grow in order for a staff person(s) to be a possibility.
We are very excited to be working on development of the Midwest MSD and believe there are many opportunities for each SNA as we pilot this new way of conducting business.
