The Exec: New Chief Physician Executive Focused on Recruitment and Strategic Initiatives

OU Health's chief physician executive must overcome a relative scarcity of physicians in Oklahoma.

The new chief physician executive of OU Health is focused on recruiting physicians and leading strategic clinical initiatives.

On Sept. 6, Cameron Mantor, MD, MHA, was named as chief physician executive at OU Health and president of OU Health Partners, which is the health system's physician practice. He had been serving in the roles on an interim basis since January. His prior leadership experience at the health system includes serving as associate chief physician executive for physician practice at OU Health Partners and CMO for OU Health's hospitals.

OU Health Partners is positioned for growth, and one of Mantor's primary responsibilities is to help manage the recruitment of new physicians.

Oklahoma ranks low for the number of physicians per capita in the country for almost every primary care area as well as specialties. So, OU Health and OU Health Partners face a challenge in terms of the number of physicians they employ.

One recruiting advantage for OU Health and OU Health Partners is the tripartite mission of the organization: education, research, and clinical care, according to Mantor.

"Our goal is to show physician recruits what we are looking to create, so they see what our vision is and hopefully that aligns with them," Mantor says. "That tends to attract recruits. We have a great academic health center, with seven colleges on our campus, so we can attract physician recruits both from an education standpoint and a research standpoint."

The health system's collaborative culture also draws physician recruits, Mantor explains.

"It is important that the physicians who work here work in concert with other physicians, other practices, and with all members of the staff," Mantor says. "We have a collegial environment."

Additionally, the health system provides a comprehensive compensation plan that provides physicians with the financial support that they need for themselves and their families, according to Mantor.

The compensation plan has several components. Base compensation is based on metrics linked to specialties. There is an academic component tied to a physician's department, which involves metrics including education, research, and clinical care. There are also incentive plans such as productivity incentive plans and quality and patient safety incentive plans, so physicians have opportunities to earn a bonus.

Cameron Mantor, MD, MHA, is chief physician executive at OU Health and president of OU Health Partners. Photo courtesy of OU Health.

Strategic clinical initiatives

As chief physician executive at OU Health, Mantor is involved in leading strategic clinical initiatives.

"For clinical programs, we think strategically about the expertise we have that we should provide to our patients, what are the programs that we do not have expertise in, but we feel our community needs, and the needs of our patients in general," Mantor says.

Pediatrics and trauma are two of the health system's primary strategic clinical focal points, according to Mantor.

"We have the state's largest, free-standing children's hospital, Oklahoma Children's Hospital OU Health, and children's healthcare is a huge focus for us," Mantor says. "We also are the state's only Level 1 trauma center for both adult and pediatric patients. Our ability to care for trauma patients who are severely injured is a strategic focus for us."

As a diverse academic system in adult practice and pediatric practice, OU Health is fortunate to have expertise in most specialties. If the health system determines it should launch a strategic clinical initiative in an area where it lacks expertise, physician recruitment is one method to rise to the challenge, according to Mantor.

"If we are unable to recruit expertise, then we partner with a local organization or across state lines," Mantor says.

Physician engagement is an essential element for strategic clinical initiatives, Mantor explains.

"The way we get to strategic clinical initiatives is not just the administrative team at the health system, which makes decisions about bricks and mortar as well as operations and finances, but also having physician leadership involved in decisions, which is paramount in making strategic clinical initiatives successful," Mantor says.

Inclusion is a guiding principle in involving physicians in strategic clinical initiatives, according to Mantor.

"From the very beginning, the discussions on the projects we are going to pursue include physician leaders," Mantor says. "We have a strategic governance team that is led by a senior physician and a senior administrator. Then we have broad representation, both from physician leaders and from administrative leaders. That core group will make decisions on major initiatives such as pediatric care and oncology."

Physicians are involved in the planning of strategic clinical initiatives, according to Mantor.

"If we are going to expand in the neurosciences or children's care or oncology care, once those decisions are made, we put the content experts from the clinical areas such as neurologists into the room," Mantor says. "They help us decide what the strategic initiatives should be and the tactics to move us along with a particular program."

CMO priorities

"At OU Health, the CMO's key roles are managing quality, patient safety, and patient experience," Mantor says.

Quality and patient safety go hand in hand, Mantor explains.

"In quality, as an organization we need to look at what is happening with our patients from a safety perspective or quality perspective that is putting them at risk," Mantor says. "We need to understand risk and be able to measure it. Once we understand what is happening, we must put processes in place to address preventable errors from happening."

Creating a just culture that promotes the reporting of patient safety events and near misses by staff is crucial for patient safety, according to Mantor.

"We want to know about potential issues that could cause harm," Mantor says. "If we want staff members to report, we must have a just culture. The reporting structure is not punitive. We want staff members to be able to tell us about issues so we can fix the problems."

For CMOs, there are several factors that contribute to promoting a good patient experience, Mantor explains.

"To generate a positive patient experience, we need to communicate with patients, explain to them what is going on, provide care options for them, explain the risks and benefits of care plans, and offer second opinions," Mantor says. "We need to provide good care and help patients to follow through on what they need to make themselves healthier."