Enhancing Physician Engagement: An International Perspective

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to provide specific recommendations to enhance physician engagement in health care organizations. It summarizes the evidence on physician engagement, drawing on peer-reviewed articles and reports from the gray literature, and suggests an integrative framework to help health care managers better understand and improve physician engagement. While we examine some other international examples and experiences, we mainly focus on physician engagement in Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom. Physician engagement can be conceptualized as an ongoing two-way social process in which both the individual and organizational/cultural components are considered. Building on several frameworks and examples, we propose a new integrative framework for enhancing physician engagement in health care organizations. We suggest that in order to enhance physician engagement, organizations should focus on the following strategies: developing clear and efficient communication channels with physicians; building trust, understanding, and respect with physicians; and identifying and developing physician leaders. We propose that the time is now for health care managers to set aside traditional differences and historical conflicts and to engage their physicians for the betterment of their organizations.

Improving physician engagement in interprofessional collaborative practice in rural emergency departments

“…Strategies for engaging physicians in organizational improvement need to address physicians not only as individuals, but also as members of a profession with given attributes (Kreindler et al, 2014;Stevens, 2013). The literature has identified issues related to physicians' professional identity as well as other obstacles to successful physician engagement (Kaissi, 2014). Barriers to physician engagement in hospital or organizational activities, such as quality or process improvement initiatives, are similar to challenges related to physician participation in collaborative practice and teamwork.…”

“…The autonomous physician role has been associated with less engagement in healthcare development (Lindgren et al, 2013). Healthcare professionals have expressed a preference for a less rigid hierarchy (Herbert et al, 2007); however, efforts to restructure healthcare systems are often seen as a threat to physicians that reduces power and autonomy over their clinical practice (Kaissi, 2014). Changes in the healthcare system that call for more focus on effectiveness and efficiency in patient care management and reimbursement tied to value have contributed to physicians' feelings of loss of control and autonomy (Rosenstein, 2015).…”

“…The development of organizational structures and work practices can be successful in supporting more positive group relations, interprofessional collaboration, and physician engagement (Kaissi, 2014;Kreindler et al, 2012;Lindgren et al, 2013;Pilon et al, 2015). The need for formal policies or procedures to implement interprofessional practice was identified by one interprofessional practice team (Poochikian-Sarkissian et al, 2008).…”

“…The need for formal policies or procedures to implement interprofessional practice was identified by one interprofessional practice team (Poochikian-Sarkissian et al, 2008). Examples of structural solutions for improving physician participation in collaborative practice include organizational strategies such as interprofessional education programs, interprofessional ward rounds (Tang et al, 2013), communication protocols, joint workspaces (Manojlovich, 2010;Morgan, Pullon, & McKinlay, 2015), interprofessional meetings (Minamizono et al, 2013), and scheduling that supports workgroup continuity (Kaissi, 2014;Lindgren et al, 2013). Improving collaboration can involve shared structures while still maintaining separate, distinct professional groups (Kreindler et al, 2012).…”

Development and psychometric testing of the clinical networks engagement tool

“…[7,9,10] Findings from a large-scale study in the NHS indicated that trusts with higher staff engagement exhibit better financial performance. [7] Alongside this growing evidence for the link between engagement and performance, there have been a number of advances in physician[3,6,11,12] and patient engagement in healthcare,[13–15] Efforts to engage the spectrum professionals and stakeholders who design and carry out quality improvement initiatives, however—a process outlined within numerous healthcare improvement models. [16–22]—have often been met with limited success.…”