At the Becker's Hospital Review 4th Annual Meeting in Chicago on May 10, Lani Berman, MBA, vice president of performance services for VHA, and Donald Hicks, senior principal of physician strategies and services for VHA, shared some lessons learned from successful physician integration efforts.
The following are some physician integration lessons learned that Ms. Berman and Mr. Hicks shared during the presentation:
Set financial and performance metrics in advance and stick to them. In one integration scenario, the hospital incentivized surgeons to cut down time in the operating room by offering shared savings of $40 for each minute saved in the OR. Once the program was underway, administrators made the decision to cut the incentive from $40 to $5, according to Ms. Berman, which was disheartening to the surgeons. "[It was] very emotional," she said, and recommended avoiding similar situations by setting all metrics early.
Garner strong organizational support. Everyone involved in the integration effort should support the project, from the C-suite down to each provider.
Understand that physicians and hospital administrators speak different languages. Most of the time, physicians and healthcare administrators have been trained differently. "They have different approaches," said Mr. Hicks. To overcome this, administrators and physicians need to make good-faith attempts to overcome the "language barrier." "Put yourself in the other person's perspective," Mr. Hicks recommended. In one case study, the hospital CEO embedded himself in the physician group and the physician leader did the same in the hospital. "They build a business model on a trusting relationship," he said.
The following are some physician integration lessons learned that Ms. Berman and Mr. Hicks shared during the presentation:
Set financial and performance metrics in advance and stick to them. In one integration scenario, the hospital incentivized surgeons to cut down time in the operating room by offering shared savings of $40 for each minute saved in the OR. Once the program was underway, administrators made the decision to cut the incentive from $40 to $5, according to Ms. Berman, which was disheartening to the surgeons. "[It was] very emotional," she said, and recommended avoiding similar situations by setting all metrics early.
Garner strong organizational support. Everyone involved in the integration effort should support the project, from the C-suite down to each provider.
Understand that physicians and hospital administrators speak different languages. Most of the time, physicians and healthcare administrators have been trained differently. "They have different approaches," said Mr. Hicks. To overcome this, administrators and physicians need to make good-faith attempts to overcome the "language barrier." "Put yourself in the other person's perspective," Mr. Hicks recommended. In one case study, the hospital CEO embedded himself in the physician group and the physician leader did the same in the hospital. "They build a business model on a trusting relationship," he said.