Senior Hospital Physician Leaders' Perspectives on Factors That Impact Physician Engagement: A Qualitative Interview Study.

Background: Physicians are essential in health-care delivery. Physician engagement, defined as active participation in administrative and leadership activities in their organization, is a useful metric for hospital leaders to evaluate as they develop and implement strategy. The purpose of this study was to gain insight into the perspectives of senior hospital physician leaders on factors impacting physician engagement.Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted virtually. A purposive sample was used. Hospital physician senior leaders were recruited from Ontario public hospitals in Canada. The interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed.Results: Ten participants in senior hospital physician leadership positions were interviewed. Seven themes were identified as impacting physician engagement: being seen and being heard, accountability, trust, leadership engagement, intercommunication, organizational stability, and discord within the organization. Saturation of themes was achieved.Conclusion: Two-way communication is essential to physician engagement. Physician input in decision-making processes is a vital way to improve engagement. For this to work, leadership must also be engaged. Trust and accountability are critical attributes for senior hospital physician leaders, especially during times of organizational instability. For physicians whose remuneration model is fee-for-service, new compensation models are required for them to actively participate in hospital decision-making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Healthcare Leadership is the property of Dove Medical Press Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)