Hike Referrals with Physician Liaisons

Building a sense of community
Physicians working with Sutter's liaisons have responded to the new role very positively.

"Most [physicians] are hungry for information, [such as] clinical updates, novel procedures, new indications, and new physician colleagues," says Kimberly Marzullo RN, MBA, system director for the physician marketing and liaison program at Sutter Health. "They are also eager to hear what our system's focus and strategy is since the market is all in flux with many challenges, including health care reform.  Being 'heard' is still very important to physicians."

Brickman, too, has found that physician liaisons help physicians feel more connected to the health system community.

It's important to "connect [physicians] to our mission and strategy in a way that they feel they have a meaningful contribution, and that they have the ear of senior
leadership," he says. "What we have seen over the years, as we have gone out into the field to engage in meaningful discussions, is that we break down a lot of
historic cultural barriers that have previously existed and we are able to demonstrate a responsiveness to the issues that we are picking up in the field."