1. Set consistent goals throughout your hospital system. For a large hospital system that operates hospitals in various regions, it can be difficult to set consistent goals for hospitals with different patient populations and priorities. Ms. Cardenas says that as a large system, CHRISTUS has to make sure its strategic priorities are well-defined. Once your system’s goals are clear, consistent and publicized in all your hospitals, it will become easier to attract physicians who share those goals and align your existing physicians too. “It sounds basic, but from our standpoint, that’s the first thing to understand about integration,” she says. “Physicians want to be aligned with great organizations, and they want to make sure that their priorities, like quality patient care, are the hospital’s priorities too.”
Ms. Cardenas says this means your hospital system should constantly evaluate its strategic goals to determine how it wants to pursue physician involvement. “We have to be at the forefront of any opportunities we have for physicians to align with us,” Ms. Cardenas says. “Do we have opportunities for them to co-manage service lines? Can we pursue joint ventures for surgery centers? Physicians are actively looking for these engagements, and we need to be on top of that.”
2. Set up a task force to communicate with physicians. In CHRISTUS’ annual physician satisfaction survey, Ms. Cardenas says physicians frequently cite lack of communication as a problem. Especially in a large hospital system, physicians can feel disconnected from system administration and out of touch with the direction of their hospitals. Ms. Cardenas says a system’s number one priority with physician alignment should be “keeping open lines of communication.” CHRISTUS has set up a physician alignment task force to determine how the hospital views employment models, clinical integration, offering technology solutions to physicians and improving physician satisfaction. By involving ambassadors from regional hospitals in a system taskforce, you can keep in touch with the needs of each region and pursue strategic goals as a unified force.
Ms. Cardenas says it can also help to set up different forms of communication. “Not everyone has the same communication style,” she says. “Some doctors still want to receive mail, while others are comfortable with e-marketing, email and texting. I think most of our physicians like face-to-face meetings as much as possible, but that can be a challenge when you have such a large staff.” As much as possible, give physicians options on how they communicate with administration. Administer regular surveys and solicit feedback on your communication successes and failures.
3. Encourage hospital employment. For CHRISTUS, the next step in aligning physicians with the goals of their hospital system is to encourage hospital employment. When physicians are employees of the hospital, they may be more in touch with the day-to-day workings of the organization and more involved with system-wide initiatives. Ms. Cardenas says encouraging employment isn’t a difficult task: As it becomes more and more difficult to remain independent and financially viable, physicians are coming to hospitals to inquire about employment. She says residents are also more likely to find hospital employment attractive because of the draw of a predictable paycheck and regular work hours. “Physicians are facing challenges out in the independent market,” she says. “There are a lot of concerns over what healthcare reform means. It’s gotten expensive to run individual offices. Technology has changed so rapidly. Many physicians are opting for employment and they’re driving the national trend.”
Even though your hospital system may already be talking with physicians interested in hospital employment, Ms. Cardenas recommends hospital systems seek out physicians too. “Our CEO is visiting every region through CHRISTUS and talking about our priorities and offering employment opportunities or joint venture opportunities,” she says. “We want to talk a pro-physician and a proactive role.”
4. Use technology to connect your physicians. A large hospital system can benefit from the connective power of health information technology, Ms. Cardenas says. CHRISTUS has implemented Reach3’s Physician Referral Builder that tracks data on physician referrals and ensures that physicians are communicating with each other, administrators are receiving feedback and relationships are constantly growing. “When you look at the activity and you know what transpired and if follow-up is needed, you can manage relationships better,” she says.
