Hospitals Move To Put Doctors In Charge
By Greg Bengel, contributing writer
As the Affordable Care Act forces hospitals to focus more on quality of care and transparency, many feel more physicians need to take on leadership roles
According to the Dallas/Fort Worth Healthcare Daily, there may soon be a regime shift in U.S. hospitals as more facilities consider putting doctors in charge. Today, less than 2 percent of hospitals are led by physicians. In a recent survey conducted by HealthLeaders, more than one-third of hospital and health system CEOs said they had no physicians on their senior leadership teams.
This may change, however, as the healthcare reacts to changes in the industry driven by the Affordable Care Act. The Dallas/Fort Worth Healthcare Daily article points out that healthcare organizations now must focus more seriously on achieving the always delicate balance between quality of care and economic viability. “Patients and policymakers are demanding greater transparency, patient safety, cost effectiveness, and accountability,” it reads. The article adds, “For all this to happen, physicians need a strong voice.”
Likewise, Becker’s Hospital Review points out that getting physicians into leadership roles is becoming a higher priority. “Physician executives are a hot commodity for hospitals and health systems,” says the article. “Having physician input in the C-suite and other senior leadership positions [is] critical for organizations as they move toward clinical integration and pay-for-performance compensation models.”
Further evidence of the value of physician leadership comes from this 2011 study in Social Science and Medicine that reports the best hospitals are run by physicians rather than managers. (Read a condensed summary of that study by FierceHealthcare).
Provider organizations are already beginning to work physicians into leadership roles. For example, this article in FierceHealthcare reports that Texas Health Resources (THR), a faith-based nonprofit health system, recently set up three geographical zones which are each led by both a clinical and operations executive at the same level. THR has also partnered with UT Southwestern to develop a healthcare management master’s degree program, which includes physicians. “Advancing physicians in key leadership roles alongside operations leaders at all levels of the system brings together a depth of clinical and operational expertise that will help us understand and address all aspects of patient care,” says THR CEO Doug Hawthorne.
For more examples, look to the Dallas/Fort Worth Healthcare Daily article. According to the article, Baylor Quality Alliance has invested in a training program for “physician champions” who advocate the adoption of evidence-based methods with their colleagues. The organization also has a quality improvement course for physicians, teaching them how to “accelerate progress and reinforce a corporate culture,” and a two-year course that teaches physicians about healthcare finance and other business topics.