AHA Physician Leadership Forum

If you spend most of your time working in the inpatient setting, you're probably already familiar with the American Hospital Association's Physician Leadership Forum (PLF).

The PLF strives to make available resources to prepare today’s physician for tomorrow’s challenges. Building the next generation of care necessitates close collaboration between clinicians and administrators across the care continuum. With rapid changes in care delivery, high performing leadership teams are needed to combine high quality and high efficiency to deliver high value care.

Over the past few years, the AHA PLF has been collaborating with various organizations and working on initiatives such as:

• Continuing Medical Education as a Strategic Resource
• AMA-AHA Joint Leadership Conference on New Models of Care
• Physician Leadership: The Implications for a Transformed Delivery System
• Lifelong Learning: Physician Competency Development
• Creating the Hospital of the Future: Implications of Hospital-Focused Physician Practice
• Team-Based Health Care Delivery

You can learn more about the AHA PLF here.

Business schools for physicians

There are a handful of business schools that focus on a physician audience. These programs can be especially beneficial for physicians who plan to stay in the health care delivery environment. If you are thinking about a career in another industry such as pharma, biotech, consulting, or finance, you may want to consider other b-school options where you will have a greater opportunity to meet influential classmates and expand your professional network.

MBA programs focused in health care or that target physicians are excellent environments where you will meet other physicians and health care executives who are dealing with challenges surrounding hospital management, practice management, quality improvement, patient safety, resource utilization, health care reform, accountable care, hospital leadership, delivery transformation, physician alignment, and much more.

The U Mass Amherst online MBA program for physicians is provided in collaboration with the American College of Physician Executives.

The Kelley Business of Medicine MBA for physicians is one of the newer programs that targets physician executives and delivers most courses online.

The University of Tennessee has a Physician Executive MBA Program that utilizes a novel class schedule.

The George Washington University offers a Healthcare MBA Online for health care executives.

Earlier this year, the Haub School of Business at Saint Joseph's University recently partnered with Lancaster General Health to offer a health care MBA for physicians, nurses, and hospital administrators.

Thinking about an MBA? Keep in mind that some MBA programs are based on structured cohorts while others provide much greater flexibility in when you start and finish.

AHA Physician Leadership Forum

The American Hospital Association's Physician Leadership Forum (PLF) is a new way for physicians and hospitals to advance excellence in patient care. Through the Forum, the AHA will work more closely with the medical community to identify best practices and deliver value-based care. Participating physicians and hospitals will commit to improve the quality, safety, and efficiency of care delivery. The American Hospital Association's Physician Leadership Forum also offers physicians a unique opportunity to participate in AHA policy and advocacy development process while preparing to collaboratively lead the hospitals of the future.

Learn more here: http://www.ahaphysicianforum.org/

Medical Staff Executive Committee

Becoming a physician executive of a hospital or health system could mean involvement at the level of the Medical Staff Executive Committee (also called the Medical Executive Committee).

What can you find online about your Medical Staff Executive Committee or Medical Executive Committee? Here are just a few examples from several health care organizations:

Here's an example from University of North Carolina:

The Medical Staff Executive Committee consists of the Officers of the Medical Staff, the Clinical Department Chairs, the Chief Nursing Officer, the President of UNC Physicians and Associates, the Deans of the Schools of Medicine and Dentistry or their designees, the President of the Housestaff Council, and the President and Chief Operating Officer of UNC Hospitals.

At Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital, the The Medical Executive Committee (MEC) is the primary governance committee for the independent medical staff.  The MEC, with input from the medical staff, makes key leadership decisions related to medical staff policies, procedures, and rules, with an emphasis on quality control and quality improvement initiatives. They are also responsible for adopting and implementing medical staff policies and procedures, and creating medical staff appointment and reappointment criteria.

The MEC represents and acts for on behalf of the Medical Staff, enforces medical staff rules and policies and is responsible for ensuring that the medical staff functions as efficiently and effectively as possible.   This group also manages the process for proposing and evaluating the medical staff bylaws and rules and regulations—the legal documents that define the purpose, structure, and authority of the medical staff. 

At the NIH, the Medical Executive Committee, comprised of the various clinical directors of the NIH intramural clinical research programs and other senior medical and administrative staff, advises the Clinical Center Director and develops policies governing standards of medical care in the Clinical Center. The Committee represents and acts for the Medical Staff and other clinical professionals in the Clinical Center, and enforces the rules and policies of the Clinical Center.

Physician Leadership: The Implications for a Transformed Delivery System

Don't miss this upcoming event:

Physician Leadership: The Implications for a Transformed Delivery System

July 27, 2013
11:30 a.m. - 6:30 p.m.
Manchester Grand Hyatt
San Diego

Health Forum/AHA Leadership Summit
www.healthforum.com/LeadershipSummit

With health care delivery on a fast pace toward transformation, strong partnerships between physicians and hospitals to lead the clinical enterprise are more essential than ever. Join your physician and hospital executive colleagues for this complimentary program to hear from some of the leading edge experts on physician leadership competencies, and the new roles and responsibilities for physicians in the transforming environment.

Hospitals employ almost 20 percent of all physicians

As more physicians choose an employment model, what will happen to independent physicians? What will happen to those physicians who are still in private practice?

These days, hospitals and health systems are seeing more requests from independent physicians about employment options. Hospitals are acquiring independent physician practices and offering compensation packages that include financial incentives (bonus payments) that are linked to patient satisfaction ratings and clinical performance and health care quality. These types of financial incentives may currently only be 3-5% of total physician compensation, but it is expected to increase to about 7-10% of physician total compensation.

If you are still in private practice, do you see yourself staying in that model until you retire? Or, will you be one of those independent physicians switching to an employment model?

If you are interested in learning more, read the Sullivan Cotter's 2011 Physician Compensation and Productivity Survey Report by Sullivan, Cotter and Associates, Inc.

Health Care Hiring Continues to Expand during Weakened Economy

Sullivan Cotter Survey Finds that Nearly Three-Quarters of Hospitals and Health Care Systems Report Increased Physician Staffing Levels

January 10, 2012 -Chicago - A survey released by Sullivan, Cotter and Associates, Inc. (SullivanCotter), a nationally-recognized compensation and human resource management consulting firm, reports that most hospitals and health care systems increased their physician staffing in 2011 and plan to continue to do so in 2012.

This finding is contained in SullivanCotter's2011 Physician Compensation and Productivity Survey Report, now available for purchase.The survey contains data from 424 health care organizations representing 66,400 health care providers and is considered the industry standard.

From CMO to CEO of a hospital

Congratulations to Dr. Jeff Sperring who is the new President and CEO of Riley Hospital for Children at Indiana University Health! Dr. Sperring (age 42) was formerly the Chief Medical Officer of Riley since 2009.

Here's a snippet from a recent press release:

As president and CEO, Dr. Sperring will be responsible for providing overall strategic direction and leadership for pediatric services throughout IU Health. This includes direct operational and strategic oversight of pediatric programs, services and facilities at Riley at IU Health, along with shared program oversight for pediatric programs based in the community hospitals. Dr. Sperring will serve on the senior executive team for IU Health. 

When Dr. Sperring first joined IU Health, he was appointed director of the Pediatric Hospitalist Program for Methodist’s Children’s Pavilion as part of the Riley Children’s Health Partnership. He led the expansion of the program to IU Health North in 2005 and then both IU Health West and Riley at IU Health in 2007. Later that year, Dr. Sperring was appointed associate chief medical officer at Riley at IU Health and assumed the position of chief medical officer upon the retirement of Dr. Richard L. Schreiner. 

Dr. Sperring is a graduate of Emory University and received his medical degree from Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in 1995. He completed his pediatric residency at the Naval Medical Center San Diego and served as an officer in the United States Navy Medical Corps from 1995-2001. Prior to joining the faculty at Riley, Dr. Sperring was a community pediatrician at the Robert E. Bush Naval Hospital in Twentynine Palms, Calif., and New Castle Pediatrics in New Castle, Ind. He and his wife Amie, a graduate of Indiana University School of Nursing, reside in Noblesville, Ind.

The transition from CMO to CEO wasn't very common in the past, but we're seeing more of these transitions as physician executives demonstrate their exceptional ability to effectively lead complex hospital systems.

Epic Systems to add 900 jobs (great for health IT)

If you've worked in a large hospital system, you've probably run across Epic. You probably won't see this Electronic Health Record (EHR) solution used in solo or small outpatient practices. Epic is mainly used in larger hospital systems. If you're looking for an enterprise-level EHR, then you've probably evaluated Epic (along with McKesson, AllScripts, Epic, Cerner, Meditech, GE, etc.).

Epic is based in Verona, Wisconsin and they are adding 900 new jobs. The rapid growth in health IT is truly exciting, but I often wonder if we're going to see a massive "bubble effect" in this whole industry. Several years from now, most physicians will be operating on digital systems, so new implementations won't be occurring very much, but system upgrades and overhauls are what we're likely to see in the future.

Interested in a career in health IT? Get to know the major players and attend large health IT conferences like HIMSS (Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society) which is coming up in Feb.

Increases in hospital mass layoffs

According to this amednews.com story, we are seeing some dramatic increases in hospital mass layoffs.

• Thirteen mass layoffs occurred at hospitals in August, leading 1,085 people to claim unemployment benefits
• The BLS recorded 10 incidents in July with at least 622 people losing jobs
• In August 2010, the BLS reported 12 mass layoffs, with 1,027 lost positions

Are these mass layoffs also affecting physicians? Depending on where you live in this country, it may be very difficult for a physician to find another job without moving. As some hospitals struggle to survive, how will this impact physician employment opportunities? On a related note, how will these changes affect the clinical environment? Will physicians be more susceptible to burnout if they're expected to carry heavier patient volumes? Will we see more medical errors if hospitals are not sufficiently staffed with nurses and other clinical ancillary staff?

Being in the hospital reminds me why I don't miss working in the hospital

Recently, I was in the hospital because my wife delivered our 3rd baby! The last time I was in the hospital was almost two years ago when we had our 2nd baby.

Each time I spend time in a hospital, I'm reminded about the reasons why I no longer miss clinical medicine. I used to work in a hospital and I remember being on call, eating in the hospital cafeteria, walking the halls in the middle of the night, and seeing so many sick patients.

@DrJosephKim quoted in this @CNN @Money article about health care #jobs

I'm quoted in this CNN Money article titled, "Health care jobs a bright spot for hiring." Many people choose to pursue careers in health care because of the job stability associated with the health care market. These days, even in a depressed economy, there are many new health care jobs that are being added on a regular basis. Why is this happening? Here's the bottom line: the aging population coupled with changes driven by health care reform will add a number of new jobs in the health care industry.

There are also changing trends in the ways hospitals are hiring physicians or practice groups. Many independent private practice physicians are choosing to be employed by hospital systems and they are choosing salaried models of reimbursement. When a hospital hires a private practice physician to work as a salaried physician employee, that's considered a new job for the hospital. Technically, the physician switched from working as an independent contractor to a salaried employee for the hospital. The hospital records that they added and filled a new job position.

In reality, these health care job statistics published by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics may be a bit misleading right since so many physicians are switching from the private practice model to a salaried model.

Job Post: Physician Advisor

Here's a job post that may be of interest to you. Even though you may not have any direct patient care in this role as a physician advisor, you'll still need an active medical license as you practice "administrative medicine" instead of clinical medicine.

Physician Advisor
Job #: 1122269
Franklin Square Hospital Center
Baltimore, Maryland

Franklin Square Hospital Center, the third-largest hospital in Maryland and part of MedStar Health, can elevate your career to a new level of caring, compassion and clinical excellence.

Were progressive, patient focused and growing: just take a look at the progress on our new, 7-story Patient Care Tower. Opening this Fall, this state-of-the art facility will provide even more opportunities for team members to enhance their dedication and talents. We now have an opening for a:

Physician Advisor
Full-time
1st shift
Mon- Fri / 9:00-5:30

Job Description:
Works closely with the Care Management department to assure cost effective, quality treatment of all patients. Acts as liaison between physicians, payers, hospital administration, and the case management department. Provides ongoing education, both formal and informal, for the purpose of affordable quality care.

Requirements:
- MD Licensure
- Medical Terminology
- Licensed physician
- Clinical practice with understanding of Utilization Review
- Excellent verbal and written communication
- Experience with Hospital Information Systems and database software
- Ability to effectively communicate with all levels of hospital staff, physician peers, managed care entities, external regulatory agencies and QM/U&M staff in a verbal and written manner
- Demonstrated ability to be organized and efficient in prioritizing and managing assignments within minimal oversight and direction

Franklin Square offers highly competitive salaries and benefits.

Click here for more information.

UMass Memorial Health Care cutting 350 jobs

If you think that a career in health care is "stable" and "recession-proof," you may want to think again. UMass Memorial Health Care is cutting 350 hospital jobs. Here's a snippet from a story on Boston.com:

The health care system, which operates the UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester and four community hospitals in Central Massachusetts, said it expects to lay off 130 workers, freeze 120 vacant jobs, and shed the equivalent of 100 jobs by reducing overtime and shifting employees from full time to part time. The system employs 13,700 workers... The staff reductions will affect a range of hospital workers, from nurses and pharmacists to finance and marketing managers.

They don't mention that they're cutting physician jobs. However, physicians are not immune to the recession. I know a number of physicians who are currently struggling to find jobs (clinical or non-clinical jobs). Let's hope that things start picking up soon so that we'll see more new jobs appearing.

Attending the Executive Health Resources (EHR) reception tonight

Tonight, Executive Health Resources or EHR is having a Cocktails & Conversation event. If you're considering a  career change, perhaps you may enjoy working for a company like EHR. What would you do as a physician advisor? Get familiar with the phrase RAC (Recovery Audit Contractor).  Not familiar with the concept?  Click here to read about RACs on the Medicare website.

Click here to view physician advisor job openings at EHR.

Here's a snippet from their website that describes the "The Physician Advisor Approach"

EHR's Physician Advisor review provides an admission status certification, which is supported by clinical evidence, compliant with CMS rules and regulations, and robust enough to withstand external scrutiny.

EHR is at the forefront of regulatory changes and monitors CMS closely in order to anticipate high-risk areas before they become a liability for the hospital. EHR has built a team of leading industry experts to conduct ongoing research and development of evidence-based, risk-stratified protocols and algorithms surrounding high-risk DRGs to assist its Physicians Advisors in defending RAC denials.

One of the most important tools in EHR's arsenal is in the area of content development. EHR has a team of physicians and nurses who are responsible for supporting our Physician Advisor teams with the latest in risk assessment and risk stratification tools. Medicare's directions in the Medicare Benefits Policy Manual require that we examine the probability that a patient will have an adverse outcome. CMS ruling 95-1 directs EHR Physician Advisors to utilize an evidence-based, literature-based standard in determining such outcomes.

EHR develops and maintains this type of information and puts it in the hands of our Physician Advisors who work directly with your hospitals. These tools involve standard high-risk diagnoses such as chest pain, congestive heart failure, and gastroenteritis. Sometimes, these tools represent wholly unique offerings, such as our Interventional Cardiac Procedure Review, which focuses on ICD's, Pacemakers, and PCI – procedures in which little or no guidance exists anywhere else. These products are developed internally and offered to our clients as the market need evolves.

Hospital Administrative Fellowship Programs

For students who are graduating with an MPH, if you're interested in a career in hospital administrative medicine, then perhaps you'll want to pursue a hospital administrative fellowship program. For instance, the Massachusetts General Hospital has a great program and you can view a list of current and past fellows here.

Also, the Cleveland Clinic has a hospital administrative fellowship program and you can see what the former fellows are doing by visiting this link.

Hopkins also has an Administrative Fellowship Program. You can learn about it here. You'll notice a common theme here: the fellows have an MHA or MHSA or MPH degree. Also, most of these fellows are not physicians but they are graduate students who have a strong interest in hospital administration or health administration.

MD/MBA Careers in Clinical Management

Christopher Baugh, MD, MBA (Medical Director, ED Observation Unit at the Brigham and Woman's Hospital) gave a great presentation this afternoon at the Association of MD/MBA Programs (AMMP) 8th Annual Conference. I loved the story about how Dr. Steve Ober met Dr. Baugh (it was in the emergency department). You'll have to watch the archived recording to hear his story.

Dr. Baugh studied at Penn and got his MBA at Wharton. He spent one summer (2003) with GlaxoSmithKline and another summer (2004) with McKinsey & Company. He worked on Medicare Part D brand strategy for a top global pharma company. He went into emergency medicine and turned down a full-time offer from McKinsey when he graduated.

MD/MBA Careers: Commercial Payors

Highlights from the Association of MD/MBA Programs (AMMP) 8th Annual Conference.

John Fallon, MD, MBA (Senior VP and Chief Physician Executive at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts) spoke about his journey in the health insurance industry.

Quote: "There is no security in life... only opportunity." Mark Twain.

Worked as an primary care internist from 1976 to 1990s. In the mid 80's, physician organizations formed. Hospitals formed relationships with physicians. DRGs (here to stay) to help s understand cost drivers and opportunities. Let's walk through his journey as a practicing physician who found opportunities to get involved in medical management.

MD/MBA Careers in Delivery Systems

Ralph de la Torre, MD (President and CEO of Caritas Christi Health Care) gave a great presentation today at the Association of MD/MBA Programs (AMMP) 8th Annual Conference.

What do we mean by health care delivery systems? Health care delivery is about how we bring health care to patients. Caritas Christi heads independent hospitals and includes a physician network. Caritas Christi also owns 2 health plans a nursing school.

So, how did Dr. de la Torre end up at Caritas Christi Health Care? He started in engineering, then he became a heart surgeon at MGH. Then, he worked at Boston Medical Center but took a job so that he could spend some time on the side in the engineering industry. He had some side ventures. Then, he dove into the quality component of cardiac surgery at become the Chief of Cardiac Surgery at the Beth Israel Deaconness hospital. So, he founded the Cardiovascular Institute at Boston’s Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Then, at the age of 41, he got a call to run Caritas Christi Health Care.

MD/MBA Careers in Academic Medical Centers

This morning at the Association of MD/MBA Programs (AMMP) 8th Annual Conference, Peter Slavin, MD, MBA (President of Massachusetts General Hospital and Professor of Health Care Policy at Harvard Medical School) gave a great presentation about health care management this morning.

He started his presentation by emphasizing the importance of work/life balance. We all need to be reminded of that, don't we?

So, here are some of the key management challenges:

• Operations
• Finances
• Quality/patient safety
• Research
• Education
• Public policy

He went into 3 case studies and I'll highlight some of the points from these case studies: