Physicians are highly specialized professionals educated
in medicine and key actors in a hospital organization.
High-quality care and patient safety is their core business
and main objective.However, working in complex healthcare organizations
requires significantly more than just specialized medical
skills.The rapidly changing field of the current healthcare
industry and the complexity of hospitals demand that
physicians also engage in leadership and management.The hospital environment is evolving according to
the shifting needs of patients. An aging population,
chronic pathology, and multi-morbidity results in an
evolution from cure- to care-based and patient-centralized
healthcare.Moreover, the healthcare environment currently faces
significant financial hurdles. Long-term care has risen
over the past few decades and is expected to increase in
the coming years. New medical technologies improve
diagnosis and treatment, but they also increase spending
in healthcare. Wise budget use in combination with
operational performance and creating a culture of
value-based decision-making is undeniably a key goal for
current leading physicians.Hospital and physician alignment is more crucial than
ever, given the shrinking budgets and call for transparency
and increased efficiency. Both parties need a deeper
integration that moves beyond the current state of affairs.This evolution increases complexity on several fronts
and calls for an open mindset, which means that
operational excellence, lean management, and business
intelligence must form the solid foundation for ongoing
improvements in clinical and service quality. Several
strategic challenges also dot the landscape of hospital
caregivers targeting mergers and consolidation of hospital
geographical networks.Hospitals need talented, educated and engaged
physicians as leaders and managers. Good and flexible
leadership behavior will result in better quality of care.
These leading physicians must be able to cope with the
fundamental challenges facing Belgian hospitals, to
include nurturing a culture that embraces their vision
and mission, and provision of accessible, affordable,
high-quality and safe patient care.The leadership skills of physicians with a
supervisory/authoritative role are reflected at both
organizational and personal levels in the optimization of
human and organizational capital. Their leadership style
is enhanced through regular interaction with aides, peers,
corporations, board members, and other stakeholders and
is appreciated because of shared strategy and an integral
mission.On the macro- and micro-level of hospital organiza-
tions, the senior hospital management, its physicians
andothercaregiversmustcopewithloomingchangesto
their environment, targeted at improving the quality and
efficiencyofcareinhospitals.Inthemacro-environment,
hospitals must remain conscious of the financial implica-
tions for their operations, and possess strategic insight
into pending hospital consolidation and networking.
Their value-based management implies a common moral-
ity in senior management and physician alignment. In
the micro-environment, the hospital system is rapidly
evolving with growing medical teams, the pursuit of
hospital accreditation and shifting patient needs.In this paper, we critically reflect on the background of
and environmental prospects for the Belgian healthcare
system, including its mission, performance indicators
and spending. The constraints and the opportunities
of Belgian healthcare are investigated and current and
future challenges are addressed. In this setting, we will
investigate how sufficient physician leadership is essential
to reacting and adapting to upcoming healthcare changes
and for the provision of quality care.A review of the international literature on leadership
styles took place using online search engines, academic
management journals, reference books and business
school outlines in order to answer the question: what
should leading physicians do?Personal and interactive interviews with hospital senior
managers in Flanders are addressed to investigate the
need for physicians with leadership skills and for align-
ment with hospital stakeholders.A dedicated online survey was conducted to address
leading physicians in Flander's general and university
hospitals. This survey of leading physicians provided a
clear overview of their profiles, behavior, educational
background and development needs.A survey of senior managers in for-profit companies
provided relevant information on their leadership styles,
experiences and managerial education.We will investigate the current leading physicians'
characteristics and their managerial knowledge andeducation in order to see where and how added value can
be provided in their overall leadership development.On the one hand, involving the hospital's own leading
physicians in strategic planning, policy making, and other
governance related activities seems to be the key to a
successful realization of its mission. On the other, however,
we will demonstrate that there is a demand for trained,
educated and experienced physicians in leadership and
management, which will only intensify in the future.Based on the shortage of physicians with managerial
knowledge and skills, and the lack of dedicated managerial
education in medical school and during their professional
careers as physicians, the rationale behind demand for
leadership and management support and education is clear.As a result, we propose a dedicated, customized
leadership and management development program for
physicians to be planned and implemented in partnership
with business schools. Moreover, we suggest that a medical
management educational platform and organization be
set up in support of senior hospital managers and leading
physicians.This paper hopes to engage physicians in leadership
and encourage them toward ongoing managerial
education and attendance of leadership development
programs.
