BAC Medical Marketing
  • Home
  • Who we are ▷
    • Mission statement
    • Meet the team
    • We attract new patients
    • More for less
  • What we do ▷
    • Services offered
    • IdentityFind
    • MEDShield
    • Project samples
  • How we work ▷
    • Workflow process
    • BACMM affiliate program
    • Clients
    • Glossary
  • Why we're different ▷
    • Search engine optimization
    • Case studies
    • Letter from the President
    • Spotlighted products
  • When we're needed ▷
    • Consultancy compensation
    • Marketing tips
    • BACMM Blog
    • FAQs
  • Contact ▷
    • News you can use
    • Testimonials
    • Online resources
    • Jobs at BACMM
Call Today: 800.240.9473

The Rationale for Developing Physician-Leaders

7/18/2011

0 Comments

 
The many challenges in healthcare today require great leadership. Access, affordability and quality are just a few of the overarching issues that call for and, in fact, demand great leadership from within healthcare.

Traditionally, the criteria for a physician to advance to a leadership position have included academic and/or clinical accomplishments, rather than the distinctive competencies needed to lead. Furthermore, traditional physician training and the unique characteristics of physicians — we tend to value autonomy and, outside of structured interactions (such as the operating room or intensive care unit), may have poorly developed team reflexes — can handicap developing leadership skills.

Though developing great leaders and embracing change are well-established characteristics of frontrunner organizations in many industry sectors, healthcare organizations have generally lagged behind. What’s more, many healthcare organizations are structured in silos or “fiefdoms,” which represent a challenging environment in which to lead. Only recently are healthcare organizations awakening to the importance of developing physician-leaders and, in this context, offering physician-leadership programs.

I suggest that four features of physicians and medical training may conspire against physicians’ having instincts or “reflexes” to collaborate. I believe that physicians:

1. experience long and hierarchical training, often with extended subordination;

2. are extensively evaluated, usually based on individual performance (e.g., board certifications, competition for training slots, etc.) rather than on group or team-based performance (which many suggest is more relevant to achieving excellent clinical outcomes);

3. may experience “extrapolated authority,” in which we extend the clinical authority that is conferred to us by patients (i.e., to address their illness and contribute to their well-being) to settings for which this clinical authority is irrelevant (e.g., driving on the highway, getting on an elevator, etc.); and

4. are “deficit-based thinkers;” specifically, because differential diagnostic thinking encourages physicians to identify problems (deficits) and because clinical skill reinforces the value of problem-solving, physicians may be hampered in the ability to adopt an “appreciative” type of thinking that is felt better suited to solving organizational challenges.

As an example of appreciative thinking, appreciative inquiry is an approach to organizational change and opportunity that builds momentum for change based on images of “the best of what could be” rather than the shortcomings of the current state. Because of the strong reflex for deficit-based thinking, physician-leaders must learn to switch nimbly between different reasoning and thinking processes — one that is “deficit-based,” narrowly focused and well-adapted for clinical practice and another that is more divergent or “appreciative” for thinking about organizational or system issues and challenges.

As another example of the skills needed to lead, in a study published in the American Journal of Medicine in 2006, interviews of 10 academic internal medicine chairs were conducted to determine the competencies for organizational success. The chairs identified several critical leadership success factors including mastery of visioning, communication, change management, “emotional intelligence” (EI), team building, business skills, personnel management and systems thinking. Emphasizing the importance of EI, which consists of competencies regarding self-awareness, self-management, social awareness and relationship management, these chairs “stated that this ability was fundamental to their success and its absence the cause of their failures.”

When physician leaders are selected based on traditional academic and clinical success rather than on leadership readiness or skill, we can identify both a gap and an opportunity. As one chair stated, “The fact is that the majority of chairs are chosen for skill sets that have little to do with the skill sets they are going to need to use.” In this gap between current practice and actual need lies the rationale and energy to develop physician-leaders.

The healing mission and ethical imperative of medicine further underscores the importance of optimizing physician-leaders’ skills. Congruence with a healing mission requires that physician-leaders possess and model the traits of compassion and hopefulness, traits that inform “resonant leadership.”

Finally, there is a clamor for leadership development among current trainees, who identify important deficits and needs for leadership training. For example, in a survey of surgical residents at a large academic medical center, more than 75 percent identified a deficit in their knowledge of leadership theory and in specific traits (e.g., conflict resolution); more than half reported at most average competence in other traits (e.g., challenging the status quo, inspiring others, helping others optimize performance, etc.).

At the same time, questions that require further attention include: (1) What are the competencies that characterize the optimal physician-leader and (2) what are the features (e.g., format, curriculum) of the ideal program to train physician-leaders?

After much research and observation, I have suggested six domains of needed competencies for effective physician-leadership. These competencies include: (1) technical knowledge (e.g., operations, finance and accounting, information technology and systems, human resources (including diversity), strategic planning, legal issues in healthcare and public policy); (2) knowledge of healthcare (e.g., reimbursement strategies, legislation and regulation, quality assessment and management); (3) problem-solving prowess (i.e., around organizational strategy and project management); (4) emotional intelligence (i.e., the ability to evaluate self and others and to manage oneself in the context of a group); (5) communication (i.e., in leading change in groups and in individual encounters, such as in negotiation and conflict resolution); and (6) a commitment to lifelong learning.

Although many questions remain unanswered, such as what are the best learning formats in which to cultivate these competencies and at what point in one’s training are the competencies best developed, I believe that those institutions that discover the answers and implement the solutions will design the future of leading healthcare.
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    Bruce A. Cadkin, MBA President                          BAC Medical Marketing

    Archives

    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    October 2010
    September 2010
    August 2010
    July 2010
    June 2010
    May 2010
    April 2010
    March 2010
    February 2010
    January 2010
    December 2009
    November 2009
    October 2009
    September 2009
    August 2009
    July 2009
    June 2009
    May 2009

    Categories

    All
    Advertising
    Affiliate Marketing
    Affiliate Program
    Anna Deavere Smith
    Avoiding Malpractice Suits
    Best Practices
    Blogs
    Branding
    Cash Only Medical Practice
    Concierge Medical Practice
    Crisalix Estetix
    Customer Service
    Defensive Medicine
    Dental Practice Marketing
    Developing Physician Leaders
    Electronic Medical Records
    Emwave Products
    Expert Panels
    Facts And Figures
    Gene Smart Wellness
    Going Dutch
    Gum Disease
    Healthcare Reform
    Heartmath
    Holiday Poems
    Ingenio Expert Advice
    Internet Marketing
    In The News
    Let Me Down Easy
    Liveperson Expert Advice
    Managing By The Numbers
    Marketing Momentum
    Marketing Strategies
    Martin Luther King
    Medical Marketing
    Medical Tourism
    Meta Tags
    Mobile Marketing
    Money Driven Medicine
    Most Influential Physicians
    Omega 3 Index
    Online Reviews
    Patient Advocate
    Patrick Soon-Shiong
    Physicians At Funerals
    Practice Advertising
    Prayer Over Treatment
    Pro Football Head Trauma
    Psychographics
    Public Relations
    Referral Marketing
    Search Engine Optimization
    Social Media Marketing
    Solution To Medicare
    Staff Training Programs
    Steve Jobs
    The Art Of Apology
    Top Medical
    Web Site Design
    Web Site Marketing

    Bookmark and Share

    RSS Feed

    Picture

    I'm an expert on Maven!

    Consult with me on Maven



    Zintro Expert
    zintro.com/expert/Marketing-Maven

    Ingenio Expert

    Picture
    Liveperson Expert

    Reuters Insight Expert

    Which of the following changes in your practice most accurately reflect your goal? (Check all that apply) I would like to...
     
    pollcode.com free polls
    YouTube
    Twitter
    Code Of Ethics
    Medical Blog Award
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Dosie Award
    Weblog Award
    AlleyDog Award
    Best Blog Contest Award
    Blogtrepreneur Award
    Top 100 Blog Award
    Blogger's Choice Award
    Blogger's Choice Award
    Blog Advertising - Advertise on blogs with SponsoredReviews.com
Privacy Policy & Cookies Policy -- Terms & Conditions of Use -- Site Map 
                
      BAC Medical Marketing, BACMM and BAC / BACMM logos are trademarks of BAC Medical Marketing.


           © Copyright 2005 - 2019 BAC Medical Marketing. All rights reserved.


Picture

Protected by Copyscape Duplicate Content Detector
Website designed by Black Mamba