The challenge for women physician executives

After half a century of constituting 5 percent of the physician population, women will soon make up more than one-third of U.S. physicians. Women now practice in virtually every specialty. This enormous change has created both opportunities and tensions. Within the broader context of the changing role of women in U.S. society, women physicians are exploring new career paths--paths that are both similar to and different from those of their male colleagues. A future challenge for women physicians will be achieving significant representation in the medical management ranks.     

Power negotiating for physician executives

Whenever you deal with another person, you use exactly the same techniques that international negotiators use to reach agreement on world problems. Learning to improve your negotiating skills is the highest and best use of your time. You can't make money faster than you can when you're negotiating well. Presented here are negotiating gambits to use to your advantage at the bargaining table.     

A pivotal role for physician executives

Physician leaders are needed to fill a pivotal role in the health care industry of the '90s. Medical education based solely on traditional scientific methods will continue to produce physicians with excellent clinical and research skills. However, study of science alone will not produce physician leaders. Effective leaders will also need to understand the tools and concepts of organization and management. These leaders will need to participate in the process of formulating and implementing policies to promote the development of economical financing and delivery arrangements while simultaneously improve the quality of care provided.     

CEO behavioral pattern expectations for physician executives

This is a report on the second part of a two-stage survey. The first part of the survey, reported in the Nov. 1994 issue of Physician Executive, dealt with physician executive behavior tendencies as viewed from the perspective of physicians, largely in hospitals. In the follow-up portion of the survey, the views of hospital CEOs on this subject were sought. CEOs were also asked for their views on the roles of physician executives and on what they were seeking in physician leaders. CEOs were asked to assess these issues in terms of the ideal physician executive, not the persons currently holding such positions in their organizations. Finally, this second report draws on the results of both parts of the survey in order to make comparisons between the views of the two groups of managers.     

Haunts on the Web for physician executives

Listed here are some medical management and health care related Web sites on the Internet worth visiting, as well as favorite search engines and how to use them. From health care systems and hospitals, to health plans and insurers, the industry is using Web technology to promote programs and outcomes, and to provide information on health and wellness.     

Role stress among physician executives

On the one hand, physician executives are clinicians who place value on professional autonomy. As clinicians, the best interests of the patient drive their decision making and their value system. On the other hand, as managers, physician executives serve as agents of an organization. Because of the differences in the two cultures, some physicians have called the physician executive position a "no man's land" To address these issues and answer the questions that surround them, the authors developed a survey that was mailed to a random sample of the membership of the American College of Physician Executives. Parts of the survey served in other studies of role conflict and role ambiguity. Parts of the survey are new, developed specifically to analyze the physician executive role. The findings are reported in this article.     

The importance of data warehouses for physician executives

Soon, most physicians will begin to learn about data warehouses and clinical and financial data about their patients stored in them. What is a data warehouse? Why are we seeing their emergence in health care only now? How does a hospital, or group practice, or health plan acquire or create a data warehouse? Who should be responsible for it, and what sort of training is needed by those in charge of using it for the edification of the sponsoring organization? I'll try to answer these questions in this article.     

High expectations mirror high stakes for physician executives

Because the stakes in health care are high, physician executives are challenged to meet high expectations set by their CEOs and boards. These may be unrealistic--for example, demanding that physician executives possess expertise in finance or strategic planning. Job stresses for physician executives are specific to the role, but are not unlike those faced by other senior executives. It's a fact that professionals leave jobs for any number of reasons; sometimes, not through their own choice or fault. Thus, every time a physician executive leaves a job, it should not be characterized as "being fired," and not every job-leaving should be taken as a failure. Accept that you may make mistakes while doing the best job you can. Rely on your own value system and integrity to see you through.     

Global view offers good news for physician executives

Do all physician executives have much "catching up" to do in relation to their non-MD colleagues? A comparison of the role of the physician executive versus the non-MD executive/administrator provides a big picture view and signals new opportunities for physicians in the evolving health care system. Physician executives have only recently become invested in the health care executive suite and are less wedded to old methods and "classic" ideas. They are more likely to be able to adapt to new circumstances, jettisoning traditional approaches that have outlived their usefulness. But each group-physician executives and their MHA- or MBA-credentialed, non-MD colleagues- has much to offer to or learn from the other. By retaining those skills that are applicable, while also adapting the useful characteristics of the "traditional" health care administrator, a physician executive can increase the likelihood of success today.     

The compensation of physician executives.

In January of this year, the American Academy of Medical Directors and the Physician Executive Management Center mailed a survey questionnaire to the approximately 2,300 members of the Academy of record at that time. More than 1,000 responses were returned. The purpose of the survey was to begin to collect data and establish a reliable baseline of compensation information for the physician executive profession. Subsequent annual surveys will allow the two organizations to track the course of the profession, insofar as this can be done on the basis of compensation. In this article, we provide a summary of some of the findings of the survey as they relate to physician executives in a variety of nongovernment health care settings. Except for the summary of overall data, the report is limited to the responses of physicians who indicated full-time involvement (75 percent or more) in management. Later this year, the complete findings of the survey will be published in a monograph that will be available from the Academy and Center.     

A behavioral profile of physician executives

In late 1993, ACPE and Tyler & Company, a national health care executive and physician search firm based in Atlanta, Ga., jointly conducted a survey of physician executives to determine their most likely behavioral patterns. It is the first of a two-part survey that, when complete, will create a multifaceted profile of the "ideal" physician executive as seen through physician executives' eyes and through the eyes of hospital management. Questionnaires based on the DiSC method of behavioral analysis were mailed to 750 randomly selected members of ACPE. More than 170 responses were received. The survey results showed that the majority of physician executives have strong communications skills, are people-oriented, and are strong leaders. The majority of respondents are self-motivated and industrious and are driven by accomplishments. The second part of the survey, which will be conducted later this year, will poll hospital CEOs and boards of directors about their preferences for behavioral patterns in their executives. Comparisons and consistencies will be analyzed between the two surveys to develop a comprehensive profile of the "ideal" physician executive, and the results will be reported in Physician Executive.     

The changing role of physician executives

Throughout the nation, physician executives are taking on new and emerging roles-from brokering the purchase of information systems and creating managed care networks to functioning as systemwide consultants, facilitators, and educators. This article offers profiles of eight creative physician executives-including their current roles and responsibilities, recommendations for emerging physician executives, and forecasts for the years ahead.     

Persuasion strategies for physician executives: Part I--Influencing superiors

Little is known about the way physicians function as managers in influence situations. In an effort to fill this gap in the literature and to illuminate how a "target's" communication style affects "agents" strategic decisions, this study examined 222 physician executives' choices of compliance-gaining strategies when seeking to influence superiors who communicate with them in attractive and unattractive styles.