Read G. Pierce, M.D.: Teaching students and residents the skills to be hospitalist leaders
Director, Young Hospitalist Academy, CU Denver Hospital Medicine Group
Director, Quality Improvement and Clinical Innovation, CU Denver Hospital Medicine Group
Director, Hospitalist Training Program – Leaders Track, CU Denver Internal Medicine Residency
Associate director, Institute for Healthcare Quality, Safety, and Efficiency, CU Denver
Also, find a coach. You can hire a professional coach, but you can also find a peer or mentor who you admire as an effective leader. Debrief with that person regularly as you go through the project, and talk about three things: where is the work going well, where are you struggling, and what could you do differently?
HN: Why are hospitalists in a unique position to be leaders in their institutions?
Dr. Pierce: Hospitalists are primed for leadership roles within health care because of their openness to systems thinking. More than a decade ago, hospital medicine expanded its focus on clinical efficiency in the hospital to include quality and safety, and now we’re working on patient experience and value as well. For most of its history the field has considered it part of the job to be at the table, speaking with hospital executives, serving on committees, and leading improvement initiatives. As a result, hospitalists see the big leadership and change management questions that hospitals and health systems wrestle with daily. This exposure gives them an ability to grasp the language and some of the concepts that are fundamental to effective leadership in care delivery systems.
HN: Do you think the implementation of the Affordable Care Act across U.S. hospitals will result in the rise of more physician executives?
Dr. Pierce: I think the Affordable Care Act creates a diverse and exciting set of opportunities for physicians who want to be more engaged in leadership roles. Stepping into those roles is up to us. If you look at the history of health care in the United States over the last 30 or 40 years, one of the interesting questions is this: How engaged have physicians been in leading important change? A lot of people would argue that some of the big challenges in the 1990s, when we implemented managed care, arose because physicians were not active enough in leading and shaping that period of change. In many markets, physicians stepped back and managed care happened to them. I think the same thing could happen with the Affordable Care Act, if physicians largely sit on the sidelines and wait to see what happens. I am encouraged that I increasingly see physicians of all ages embracing leadership as a core competency and a rewarding path.
Take us to your leader. Nominate a hospitalist whose work inspires you. E-mail suggestions to mschneider@frontlinemedcom.com.
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