U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Indian Health Service: The Federal Health Program for American Indians and Alaska Natives
A - Z Index:
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z
#
IHS Retention: People Smart
 
Home
Best Practices
Recruitment and Retention Tools
External Resources

Retention Toolkit

retentionMaterials developed by IHS, specifically to aid CEOs, Clinical Directors (CD) and management in their local retention efforts.

Quick Stats

Top Five Retention Tactics at the Facility Level*

  • Send staff to conferences
  • IHS Loan Repayment Program (LRP)
  • Continuing education
  • On-site training
  • Telehealth/Telemedicine
  • * Based on results from the August 2009 IHS Retention Assessment

National shortages of health professionals and rising vacancy rates are causing concern over maintaining the staffing levels necessary for the Indian Health Service (IHS) to deliver its mission. While agency recruitment efforts have increased and shown positive results, the immediate spotlight is being turned toward employee retention as another means to meet this challenge.

IHS MISSION
To raise the physical, mental, social and spiritual health of American Indians and Alaska Natives to the highest level.

PeopleSmart, an IHS recruitment and retention initiative, is designed to develop a culture of caring, emphasizing loyalty and growth among those working within Indian health programs while supporting the retention of Indian Health Service clinicians and other health care professionals.

As a part of this Web site, PeopleSmart provides Indian health leadership with resources to raise awareness of retention and loyalty programs in order to bring about positive change. These resources define steps to be taken at the national, Area and local levels and offer a forum for leaders to share knowledge and exchange ideas, best practices and success stories.

Of particular value is the Retention Toolkit. This toolkit is comprised of a series of email newsletters designed to stimulate involvement in retention problem solving by sharing actual situations in which Indian health leaders took specific steps leading to positive results.

The Indian Health Service is committed to the growth of PeopleSmart and encourages Indian health program leadership to use the information on this Web site to support retention of IHS health care professionals. By focusing on the strategic management of personnel, how we treat our staff and what we can do to make their work environment better, we can create a culture where people will want to stay with us for a long time, make IHS their career and be critical players in our shared mission.