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October 28, 2014 12:00 AM

Guest Commentary: The disenfranchised physician (and what health systems can do about it)

Maureen Ladouceur
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    Here's a painful reality in healthcare today: According to a 2013 Physicians Foundation survey, 82% of physicians believe they have “little influence on the direction of healthcare.” At the same time, data suggest that physicians are the ones driving 80% of our increasingly unsustainable national healthcare spending.

    For the first time in the modern era, the economics of healthcare is starting to align with outcomes. Alignment initiatives are bridging care gaps, clinical protocols are rooted in evidenced-based medicine and incentive structures are recognizing physician impact and performance. So why do physicians feel disenfranchised from health systems? Aren't healthcare executives spending significant time, money and energy trying to reach their physicians with their strategies for success? Where is the disconnect?

    Despite all their efforts and incentives, most health systems struggle to engage their physicians. They send e-mails, post information on portals and publish newsletters. They might be communicating, but they are not engaging. The difference can make or break any organizationwide initiative.

    Rather than simply pushing information at the doctors—a group that's time-strapped, on the move, and under incredible pressure to deliver quality care quickly and efficiently—engagement is a two-way information exchange. It pushes important information to doctors and pulls them in with interesting, relevant content and opportunities for collaboration.

    Other industries have figured out how to engage their target markets by creating individual experiences that are based on behavior, preferences and use patterns. Amazon does this well when they learn about an individual's behaviors and adjust recommendations and outgoing messages based on what someone is likely to value. What would it mean for our physicians if we could engage them with this level of relevance and specificity? Healthcare can learn a lot from other industries.

    With healthcare costs in the U.S. accounting for nearly 20% of GDP, we all have a stake in what can be achieved with healthcare reform. Our physicians are at the center of this transformation, and how they perceive and respond to the changes around them affects everyone. Health systems have a huge opportunity to engage physicians in ways that will support better decisionmaking and help deliver higher-quality care at a lower cost. It is time to rethink what you want and need from your physician engagement strategy.

    Maureen Ladouceur is a vice president at Quantia, a Waltham, Mass.-based firm specializing in physician engagement IT solutions.

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        • Top 25 Women Leaders Gala
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        • - Value Based Care
        • - Hospital at Home
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        • - AI and Digital Health
        • - Future of Staffing
        • - Hospital of the Future (Fall)
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