Stakeholder analysis
By playing a medical staff leadership role, hospitalists provide value to several stakeholders involved in the inpatient care process. The benefits to these stakeholders are summarized in Table 1.
Conclusion
Hospital administrators need physician leaders to address critical strategic and operational issues. Given their position as “inpatient experts,” hospitalists are a logical choice to play this role. In the years ahead, it is likely that hospitalists will assume an increasingly important leadership role within community hospitals and academic medical centers around the country.
Dr. Pak can be contacted at [email protected].
Ms. Kerr can be contacted at [email protected].
References
- McGowan RA. Strengthening hospital-physician relationships. HFMA Business December 2004.
- Hospitals & Health Networks, Vol. 77, No. 11. Health Forum, November 2003.
- Lindenauer PK, Pantilat SZ, Katz PP, Wachter RM. Hospitalists and the practice of inpatient medicine: result of a survey of the National Association of Inpatient Physicians. Ann Intern Med. 1999;130: 343-9.
- UCSF hospitalist Web site: http://medicine.ucsf.edu/hospitalists/quality.html.