Does it Matter?
While there are lots of other components to a good practice, I believe an ownership culture is one of the most important features leading to a successful and thriving practice. It is difficult to maintain a successful practice for very long without it.
You don’t have to take my word for it. Writing in The Baptist Health Care Journey to Excellence, Al Stubblefield says:
“Because it is so rare, an organization that is able to create this culture of ownership within its workforce has a high probability of creating a sustainable competitive advantage … The second advantage, which came as an unexpected bonus for us, is that creating a strong, attractive culture results in incredible recruiting power.” TH
Dr. Nelson has been a practicing hospitalist since 1988 and is co-founder and past president of SHM. He is a principal in Nelson/Flores Associates, a national hospitalist practice management consulting firm. He is also part of the faculty for SHM’s “Best Practices in Managing a Hospital Medicine Program” course. This column represents his views and is not intended to reflect an official position of SHM.