Getting a firm grip on the realities for physician executives

Today, physician executives can be found in every health care setting-group practices, hospitals and academic medical centers, insurance companies, drug companies, airlines, the government, and more. But before physicians land these positions, they must negotiate the often difficult passage from clinician to manager to executive to business-minded leader. To manage this transition successfully, physicians must be aware of and understand some basic realities of management positions. The nature of these realities and how physicians interested in management can deal with them are the subject of this article.