title: The emergency department medical director as supervisor of medical professionals.
abstract: The overall success of the ED in the eyes of its customers demands the successful performance of a complex operation involving a team of skilled professionals from various disciplines interacting with support staff and the public. The strong personalities, intelligence, and training of emergency physicians provides the medical director significant challenges as their supervisor. The ED medical staff provides a great impact on the culture and overall perceived performance of the department. It is essential that their leader provide clear direction regarding the performance expectations of the organization for the medical staff. A systematic approach to developing and expressing those expectations, providing timely feedback regarding performance to those expectations, and addressing variation from expectations can provide a valuable tool in supporting the ED medical director's success. This article has been a brief overview of the basic components ofa performance management system for physicians. It has described a process for arriving at explicit performance expectations across dimensions commonly associated with a medical practice, an approach to measuring critical performance factors and delivering ongoing routine feedback to individuals and the group regarding performance to expectations. Finally, it addressed important steps to include in the management of marginal and exceptional performers to preserve the functional integrity and long-term success of the ED. In adopting this approach to the supervisory responsibilities of the medical director, a strong foundation is established for successful performance management.
authors.affiliation: Team Health, 3455 South 344th Way, Suite 210, Federal Way, WA 98001, USA. larry_vindrine@teamhealth.com
authors.forename: Lawrence R
authors.initials: LR
authors.lastname: Vidrine
mesh_terms: D003142:Communication; D004502:Education, Medical, Continuing / Q000458:organization & administration; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000458:organization & administration*; D004650:Employee Performance Appraisal; D006801:Humans; D007318:Inservice Training / Q000458:organization & administration; D007400:Interprofessional Relations; D007857:Leadership; D008505:Medical Staff, Hospital / Q000193:education / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000523:psychology; D010559:Personnel Management / Q000379:methods*; D008486:Physician Executives / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000523:psychology; D010819:Physician's Role; D011361:Professional Competence / Q000592:standards*; D013192:Staff Development / Q000458:organization & administration