Physician engagement is strikingly low overall — resting at just 20 percent — and it may be linked to the quality of physician leadership, according to an athenahealth survey of 2,011 physicians.
The survey shows respondents in physician-led organizations were four times as likely to be engaged (32 percent) as their peers in non-physician-led organizations (8 percent). However, those who worked in non-physician-led organizations who said they had very good or excellent physician leaders within their organizations were much more likely to be engaged (38 percent).
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the survey also found a correlation between environment and engagement. Seventy-five percent of physicians who worked in an environment where they can focus on what they do best reported high engagement levels, according to athenahealth.
The survey also lays out the specialties that reported the lowest engagement: Hospital-based physicians (18 percent), family practice physicians (18 percent) and internal medicine physicians (16 percent). These specialties had considerably lower rates of engagement compared to the procedural specialties (27 percent). In connection with the other survey data, this could indicate primary care specialties need to create a better work environment and develop physician leaders at all levels of their organizations.
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