Physicians Pivotal in Administrative Leadership at Health Systems and Hospitals

Many health systems and hospitals consider it crucial to be clinician-led organizations.

As part of HealthLeaders' chief medical officer Q&A series called "The Exec," many CMOs have said that physicians play active roles in their organizations' administrative leadership.

According to the CMOs, physicians serve in a range of administrative roles at their health systems and hospitals, including hospital president, medical directors, and department chiefs. In playing administrative roles, physicians can help ensure that clinical care is a paramount concern at their organizations.

The following is a list of The Exec HealthLeaders stories that include descriptions of how physicians serve in administrative leadership roles.

The Exec: How to Successfully Lead a Large Medical Group: At RWJBarnabas Health, physician leaders and nurse leaders typically co-lead quality, safety, and patient satisfaction projects with dyad nurse leadership and physician leadership driving initiatives.

The Exec: Physician Groups Should Have a Clear Mission: At Monument Health, the health system has physician medical directors at every level of service in a market-based operational structure.

The Exec: Respect Primary Element of Physician Experience: Banner Health has an eight-week long leadership program for physicians called Advanced Leadership for Physicians. Physician leadership roles at the health system's hospitals include medical executive committees and we medical directors for nearly every clinical department.

The Exec: How to Succeed in Value-Based Care Payment Arrangements: At Yuma Regional Medical Center, the hospital has physicians serving as executive medical directors overseeing surgery, medical specialty, and primary care. Under them, there are physicians serving as medical directors in areas such as trauma, stroke, and intensive care.

The Exec: 'Business as Usual is No Longer a Successful Model': Allegheny General Hospital is a clinician-led organization. For example, the hospital's president is a practicing hospitalist.

The Exec: Physicians Mulling Administrative Roles Should Talk to People Who Have Walked That Path: The chief medical officer of West Penn Hospital says her health system, Allegheny Health Network, has structures in place to help interested or promising physicians to have the opportunity to try on administrative hats.

The Exec: 'I Strongly Believe That All Physicians Are Leaders': At Providence Newberg Medical Center, physicians serve as chairs of clinical departments, and each department chair serves on the hospital's medical executive committee, which governs the medical staff.