Carey Albright, MBA/MSN BSN, RN, CENP, administrative director of Maury Regional Medical Center gave a presentation on physician relationships and engagement during the Becker's Hospital Review 6th Annual Meeting.
Maury Regional Medical Center, is a small, not-for-profit community-owned hospital, 45 miles south of Nashville in Columbia, Tenn.
Maury Regional Hospital, part of the Maury Regional Healthcare System, includes three wholly-owned subsidiaries: Family Health Group, which includes multiple physician practices using the FHG name; Maury Regional Ambulatory Surgery Center; and Maury Regional Healthcare Foundation. The combined discharges for FY14 were 18,617, said Ms. Albright, with a $137,037,688 payroll. They also fund athletic trainers and give to community service every year. Maury Regional has received the Tennessee equivalent of the Baldrige award twice, most recently in 2014. In 2012, the facility received a Baldrige site visit and received recognition as having best practices in both Strategic planning and workforce engagement. These are just a few of the awards the medical center has attained and only validate the work being done.
"We really want our physicians and employees engaged. It's a commitment to what we are trying to achieve," said Ms. Albright.
Characteristics of engagement include:
1. Emotional commitment
2. Intellectual commitment
3. Fulfillment
4. Investment in thoughts and ideas
5. Invested in success of healthcare center
Maury utilizes physician advisory councils for all specialty groups in order to engage physicians in the goals of the medical center and to share information with physicians. These meetings are transparent-unblinded quality, safety, financial, and satisfaction data are shared and action plans are created with physician involvement to drive improvements.
"We have scorecards for everything and use the Baldrige Framework," said Ms. Albright.
According to Ms. Albright, MRMC's various awards indicate lower costs with greater quality and patient satisfaction.
This relates to physician engagement as well, and MRMC's engaged physicians contribute to:
1. Enhanced patient care
2. Lower costs
3. Greater efficiency
4. Improved quality
5. Patient safety
Engaged physicians approach their work with higher energy and enthusiasm and will work for the improvement of the overall organization.