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Hospital-physician relationships have historically had their challenges. But in recent years, hospitals have formed physician relations departments or liaisons charged with reaching out, communicating and working to collaborate with the physician community. These departments would act as the eyes and ears of the hospital and ensure lines of communication were kept open. “Physician Relations” may even conjure up images of lunches, dinners or special meetings to welcome new physicians to the community. Now, with the wave of changes brought on by healthcare reform, physician-hospital relations have evolved to something much more. The interdependency of hospitals and physicians is stronger than ever.
A physician relations department now plays the role of helping to empower and inform physicians in private and employed groups to help navigate the changes flying toward them at warp speed. With the infrastructure, people and resources to procure and provide vital education and tools, hospitals are essential to the physicians’ continued success in healthcare’s “new day” – including coding, billing, clinical documentation, EMR, Meaningful Use, HCAHPS, CG- CAHPS, PQRS, ICD-10, Observation vs Inpatient, or 2 Midnights vs 3 Midnights rules.
Today, physicians are challenged to keep up with all of these topics as well as new terminology and acronyms. They have to juggle their practices and caring for patients with learning and understanding these issues, which has a significant impact on their livelihood.
Martin Health System is working to empower all physicians on staff regarding the government-driven changes and initiatives above, but we have had a special focus on our employed Martin Medical Group (MMG). MMG is a 20-year-old, multi-specialty group that comprises more than 100 providers ranging from primary care physicians to neurosurgeons. Historically, MMG physicians functioned as individual practicing physicians – solo practitioners of sorts. Often, physicians didn’t communicate well with each other or with the hospital. It was common for physicians in the group never to have met one another.
Two years ago, Martin Health System brought a new physician leader to the group. He came from a sizable group practice and immediately recognized the potential of this relatively large and diverse group of physicians. He encouraged the physicians to develop a self-governance model. While it hasn’t been an easy task, this governance has transformed the way the physicians relate with one another and with the hospital as well.
While the 100-plus members of Martin Medical Group meet three times a year, physician specialty service lines have elected directors and hold monthly meetings. Committees formed around performance excellence, ambulatory EMR optimization, and standardization of care and finance. All of the committee and service line directors make up the physician leadership committee (PLC). The Martin Health executive team and board of directors invited the PLC to elect four of its members to sit on the MMG Corporate Board of Directors. This provides the PLC with a direct conduit – and a stronger relationship – with the top leaders of the Martin Health organization. Through all of these meetings, the physicians have the opportunity to educate each other, and their teams, on what they all need to know to survive and thrive.
It is not just the physicians of Martin Medical Group who benefit when empowered with this knowledge—Martin Health will become stronger as a health care system. More than ever before, hospital and physician success is intertwined.
This will be an ongoing challenge and opportunity for Martin Health. We all see countless changes coming down this daunting road of healthcare reform. In order for the providers and hospitals to endure, everyone will need to work together and teach one another, with the educated and empowered physicians in the driver’s seat leading the way.
