Toward Improvement of Engagement, Operations

Physicians generally are not accepted to medical schools for their leadership or management abilities. It is more for their academic achievements and individual drive. They are trained to assess, diagnose and then give orders within a task-oriented environment. However, with the evolving nature of competition and the quest to improve hospital operations, the quality and safety of our health care systems depend heavily on high-functioning physician leaders.

In this issue’s peer-reviewed content, we get a taste of how experienced physician leaders are well-positioned to lead a culture of engagement and mentorship to implement much-needed operational improvements to our care systems.

We have two field reports that present a method to achieve operational excellence by using an Agile framework of project management, and an assessment of specific actions and behaviors across three leadership domains — administration, physician group culture, and physician leadership — that contribute to high physician engagement. Though health care operations are tedious and time-consuming, the engagement of physician leaders within daily operational duties provides an incredible opportunity to innovate and improve the health care experience.

We also feature a piece on a critically important topic for the success of our colleagues: physician coaching and mentoring, a significant component to the development of high-functioning and engaged physician leaders.

As you read through this collection of research, which we have carefully selected for this issue, I encourage you to consider relevance in the work you are doing with your teams every day. Not just for the purposes of informing your own leadership strategies, but also in terms of the ways you can help to inform your colleagues, staff and others.

As the official magazine of the American Association for Physician Leadership, the Physician Leadership Journal provides a platform for you to share your research with colleagues throughout the world. Now is the time to use this platform to help inspire change in health care, particularly as physician leaders, to improve the way we deliver care to the patients, families and communities we serve.

We welcome your papers for publication. To request author guidelines or to submit a completed manuscript, email editor@physicianleaders.org.