We Need Physician Leadership (Duh)- Forbes Article 5 takeaways

We have been advocating for physician leadership for many years. We have trained, coached and deployed thousands of physician leaders in the US healthcare system. We were happy to see an article on the need for physician leadership published in Forbes online in July 2023. 

Here are the 5 key takeaways  from the article

1. When we stop treating clinicians like widget makers and both foster managerial education and the utilization of provider clinical skills in improving health systems, outcomes and the elusive cost containment goals grow more tenable.
2. I was struck by their general lack of input, or their limited roles as leaders, in many of the health systems represented at this event.  But, in many instances it appeared that the participation and thought leadership were rather myopic and confined to, say, comp.
3. Physicians can be honest broker (or brokers): Offers constituent clinicians faith that they are being heard, have a seat at the table, and are valued. They might not agree with decisions but at least they’re getting an ear
4. Clinicians have boots on the ground knowledge about care delivery; hard/soft needs, how the EMR impacts their lives/care, patient schedules, comp drivers (like wRVUs), etc. They can provide unique insight into operational needs
5. Physicians are Thoughts/input re: quality measures and metrics: I’m sorry but C-suite folks, unless clinicians, generally don’t know what goes into point of care delivery decisions. As the world moves towards “value-based care” (however you define that – let’s call it “repeatable quality outcomes at a managed cost”), it’s crucial to involve clinicians in “global” care models, VBC, etc. This can drive outcomes, both clinically and, one hopes, financially

We could not agree more (DUH).