Primary Care Physician Leadership in Top Ranked US Hospitals.

This assessment of the "top hospitals" in the US according to 4 leading rankings reveals only 4 to 7% of represented CEOs are primary care physicians by training. Greater attention to leadership development from primary care residency through health system practice is needed to avoid diminishing primary care's critical role and salutary global benefits.

Primary care physician leaders' perspectives on opportunities and challenges in healthcare leadership: a qualitative study.

BACKGROUND: There is an increasing demand for physicians to assume leadership roles in hospitals, health systems, clinics and community settings, given the documented positive outcomes of physician leadership and the systemic shifts towards value-based care. The purpose of this study is to examine how primary care physicians (PCPs) perceive and experience leadership roles. Better understanding how PCPs perceive leadership affords the opportunity to influence changes in primary care training in order to more adequately prepare and support physicians for current and future leadership roles. METHODS: This study used qualitative interviews, conducted from January to May 2020. The participants included 27 PCPs, recruited via the Harvard Medical School Center for Primary Care newsletters and through snowball sampling techniques. Participants worked in 22 different organisations, including major urban health systems, corporate pharmacy, public health departments and academic medical centres. RESULTS: Using content analysis and qualitative comparative analysis methodologies, three major themes and seven subthemes emerged from the interviews. The primary themes included the advantage PCPs have in leadership positions, the lack of leadership training and development, and disincentives to leading. CONCLUSIONS: While PCPs perceive primary care to hold a unique position that would incline them towards leadership, the lack of training and other noted disincentives are barriers to leadership. Therefore, health organisations should seek to invest in, better train and promote PCPs in leadership.

Engaging Physicians in Leadership: Motivations, Challenges, and Identity-Based Considerations.

GOAL: Physician leadership has been associated with improved patient outcomes, increased provider satisfaction, and decreased physician burnout as well as more profitable, higher-quality healthcare delivery. However, physicians frequently struggle when assuming leadership positions, given the dissonance between their administrative and clinical roles. Informed by social identity theory, we aimed to identify why physicians lead, how they experience leadership roles, and the challenges they face during the transition into those roles. METHODS: We conducted 27 semistructured interviews with primary care physician leaders between January and April 2020. Interviews were transcribed and analyzed using the constant comparative method. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Four themes were developed from the analysis, including (1) desire for change, (2) desire for growth, (3) challenges experienced during the transition to a leadership role, and (4) changes to professional identity. The results of this study identified aspects of leadership perceived by physicians as attractive and motivating. The study also revealed challenges that occur during the transition into leadership as well as shifts in professional identity experienced by physicians. APPLICATIONS TO PRACTICE: The results can be used by healthcare managers and executives to empower more physicians to take on leadership roles and implement changes that alleviate stresses associated with physicians transitioning into leadership roles.