Is the relationship between your hospital and your medical staff sustainable?
Issues in the macro-environment are affecting the historic relationships that have existed between hospitals and their medical staffs over the last half century. Rising healthcare costs, deteriorating relationships, unexplained variations in clinical outcomes, transparency in healthcare outcomes, medical tourism, competition between hospitals and physicians, and reluctance by hospitals and physicians to change are among the issues challenging the sustainability of the current business model. This article highlights barriers to maintaining traditional relationships and concludes with strategies to preserve and strengthen relationships between physicians and hospitals.
Carlson
Greg
G
Healthcare Consulting, University of Alabama at Birmingham, USA. carlsong@uab.edu
Greeley
Hugh
H
D000556:Ambulatory Surgical Procedures / Q000191:economics; D004465:Economic Competition; D005377:Financial Management, Hospital; D017048:Health Care Costs; D018578:Hospital-Physician Relations; D006801:Humans; D015279:Organizational Culture; D012017:Referral and Consultation / Q000191:economics