First, healthcare systems are shifting from volume-based to value-based programs, requiring a physician-led, team approach to achieve desired outcomes. Many physicians are finding themselves thrust into a new work dynamic that requires leadership and team building skills for which they’ve had no training. Adding to the changing landscape are new technologies, healthcare reform, an aging population, and physician shortages, placing increased pressure on physicians like never before. Keeping physicians engaged in these circumstances can be monumentally challenging; but, when reimbursements are based on outcomes tied directly to physician engagement and the patient experience, it is also critical for the future health of the organization.
Editor’s Note: This content was originally posted on HealthStream’s website.
Dr. Kent Carr, Chief Clinical Officer of Employed Providers for Catholic Health Initiatives (CHI) and Shannon Fiser, Senior Vice President of Financial Operations for Ardent Health Services, sat down with us to share their thoughts about the evolving challenges of engaging and retaining physicians. Excerpts from these conversations are included below:
What are some of the challenges to engaging and retaining physicians?
While technology is creating new levels of efficiency for physicians, it can also be a challenge for providers for whom tools like smart devices are not second nature. According to Carr, this can have a negative impact on provider engagement. “These physicians have to adapt to using tools they’re not used to,” Carr explains. Initially, this can make life more complicated for physicians who are already under considerable pressure. Says Carr: “Physicians like me don’t particularly like to type; we never really learned. We didn’t grow up with a keyboard like the newer generations entering practice, and we’re just not used to it.”
How do you think your retention strategy will change over the next few years?
Fiser: There will probably be more specialization inside physician practices, such as certain physicians focusing on more senior populations. There is increasingly more utilization and more responsibility put on mid-level providers, and I think we’ll see more guidelines and training on how physicians practice in the office, with an emphasis on both quality and workflow efficiency.
For big health systems, the challenge will be integrating newly acquired practices and providers into the standards and culture of their system. According to Carr, if providers integrate with a system’s high performing practice, they’re likely to be more satisfied, but it requires a careful balancing act. Such integrations take a team approach with more standardization across the entire system to be effective, but it can also negatively impact the career satisfaction of many physicians who have operated in a model of professional autonomy. Consequently it is important to communicate the benefits to providers, and underscore the value of system support. As Carr explains, “you need to let physicians know these are things you’re doing for them, not to them.”
The demographics of the healthcare landscape are also changing and introducing new challenges to organizations. The number of female providers is increasing, for example, driving growth in many systems. These physicians are more than twice as likely to practice parttime, so hospitals must look for ways to offer more flexibility in schedules while meeting the growing demand for patient care.
Finally, our aging population is changing demographics and contributing to the highest turnover rates among physicians in almost a decade. According to the American Medical Association, approximately 49 percent of physicians are between the age of 41 and 59, and almost 25 percent are over the age of 60. Healthcare organizations must manage, support and communicate in ways that are most effective for each demographic.
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