Published Date: 10/01/2006

For Immediate Release

For a review copy of the book
or an interview with the author,
please contact Dottie DeHart,
Rocks-DeHart Public Relations,
at (828) 459-9637 or DSDeHart@aol.com

 

Practicing Excellence: Five Reasons Medical Groups and Hospitals Striving for Culture Change Must Get Physicians on Board
Medical care, workplace conditions, clinical quality, service, and the culture of a medical organization will ultimately be determined by the conduct of its physicians. A new book by Dr. Stephen C. Beeson explains how to engage yours in your quest for excellence.  

Gulf Breeze, FL (October 2006)—If you work for a hospital or a medical group, you’re probably familiar with the phrase organizational excellence. Culture change in health care has become more than a trend. It’s a movement. Managers at all levels are undergoing rigorous training aimed at creating exceptional patient experiences and nurturing employees. But one group of pivotal professionals has been somewhat underserved in the national push for excellence in health care. Physicians. Stephen C. Beeson, M.D., wants to change that.
“The process of physician engagement and training is a necessity to creating organizational excellence,” asserts Beeson, author of Practicing Excellence: A Physician’s Manual to Exceptional Health Care (Fire Starter Publishing, 2006, ISBN-10: 0-9749986-3-X, ISBN-13: 978-0-9749986-3-3, $28.00). “Physician alignment and tools to improve the care provided to patients by physicians are powerful drivers for performance change. Organizations that possess the ability to change and rise to the top are the organizations that are led by engaged physicians who create excellence by leadership and example.”
First things first: what does a Culture of Excellence look like? Practicing Excellence describes it this way: “The organization that has implemented a Culture of Excellence becomes a living, breathing advertisement for itself from the testimony of every patient who walks through the doors. The pride that invariably comes with prescriptive excellence yields tangible results with objective measures. More importantly, the pride that comes from making a difference for patients continues to drive the organization to higher levels of performance and achievement.”
This ground-breaking book thoroughly explains the physician’s vital role in creating such an outstanding organization. But first, it spells out exactly why you should fully engage your physicians in your quest to provide outstanding patient service. Here, excerpted from Practicing Excellence, are five benefits your organization will reap when you get physicians on board with your change effort:

• You’ll improve patient compliance. Patient noncompliance is one of the most important problems in health care today. But the good news is that physicians’ communication skills can heavily influence patient compliance and will impact clinical outcomes. Many studies have demonstrated that when a physician is approachable, gives serious consideration to the patient’s concerns, and communicates well, better patient compliance is likely.

“How is it that in the United States we spend over $200 billion per year on prescription medications, and billions more on the development of pharmaceuticals, but physicians often fail to spend the two critical minutes to provide the information and communication to patients that is the necessity of compliance?” queries Beeson. “Our ability to be clinically effective and to drive outcomes with proposed treatment is clearly dependent on our ability to communicate and partner with patients.” 

• You’ll see substantial improvements in growth, market share, and loyalty. It has been shown that patients who are extremely satisfied with the care and services provided by their physicians are willing to make financial sacrifices and endure inconvenience to stay in their care. The requisite for this loyalty is something special about the service provided to patients that occurs with every encounter. If patients are merely “satisfied,” they can and will go elsewhere should circumstances for change arise. Communication, attitude, respect, reliability, empathy, and kindness are physician and organizational traits that distinguish a practice that creates loyalty amongst the patients they treat.

“Nearly 70 percent of all health care choices are made by word of mouth,” points out Beeson. “What patients say to their friends, family, and colleagues about a medical group and its physicians can determine the competitiveness and long-term viability of an organization.”

• You’ll lower your risk of malpractice litigation. Physician conduct and communication, and not necessarily untoward clinical outcomes, appear to be the principle predictors of malpractice risk. Practicing Excellence cites several studies that back up this truth. For example: In primary care, a study was performed looking at communication styles of “no-claim” physicians with no prior lawsuits vs. “claims” physicians with more than one prior claim. In comparison, no-claim physicians spent more time educating patients about what to expect next and the flow of the visit. They laughed and used humor more and spent more time partnering with patients and soliciting their understanding. On average, the no-claim physician spent two to three minutes more per patient visit compared to the claims physician.

“Numerous studies have made consistent conclusions regarding the most protective strategies against malpractice claims,” writes Beeson. “Physician service excellence, delivered through communication, collaboration, respect, and trust with patients, correlates highly with significant reductions of lawsuit probability.”

• You’ll improve staff performance through physician leadership. A healthy physician-nurse relationship is not just a nice thing to have; it is a competitive advantage driving clinical outcomes, patient safety, and staff retention. Interviews of nurses demonstrate that when physicians intimidate and behave disruptively, clinical care is impacted. Ninety-two percent of hospital-based nursing staff have witnessed disruptive physician behaviors and report a compromise in communication, collaboration, and information transfer. Nurses also reported disruptive physicians increase frustration, stress, and the quality of workplace relationships. When respectful, collaborative physician-nurse communication is in place, and nurses are encouraged to speak up in the face of patient danger, errors are reduced and care for patients improves.

“The physician’s role in workplace operations and performance is critical,” says Beeson. “Physicians are in a leadership position and will influence the perception, attitudes, and behaviors of others. A vested physician committed to reward and recognition, who clearly articulates expectations, who gets to know and takes care of staff, and models the behaviors consistent with their organizational mission, will create a high-performing unit.”

• You’ll improve physician satisfaction through collaboration and collegiality. Physician groups flourish when physicians simply get along with each other and are willing to create cooperation and consensus on the fundamental operations of the group. Physician groups thrive when there are systematic efforts to share clinical knowledge and expertise where the skills and talents of each physician are best utilized for the collective good. Physician groups thrive when physicians position each other well in the eyes of patients and staff, and where differences are clarified respectfully and openly for the good of patient care. Physician groups thrive when the needs of the patient, and the prevailing mission and culture of the organization, supercede the personal agenda of any single physician.

“Physicians’ serving each other never will be measured on any outcome matrix; however, it is crucial to sustain the health, commitment, sanity, vigor, and spirit of your physicians to do the work of caring for others,” concludes Beeson. “You will find that physician camaraderie, collaboration, and friendship lie under the hood of the medical groups in this country who have established distinguished histories of being the best. Never underestimate their importance.”

In Practicing Excellence, Beeson explains exactly how your organization can implement service and operational excellence among its physicians. (NOTE TO EDITOR: See tipsheet titled “Doctors on Board: Nine Steps to Practicing Excellence”) What’s more, he issues a clarion call directly to these men and women in white to lead the way in making excellence a top priority . . . right now.
“The Culture of Excellence will never come passively into our practice,” he writes. “A Culture of Excellence comes from the leadership of those who have the greatest impact on the conduct of others. Physicians cannot wait for operational excellence to justify their commitment; they need to achieve excellence through influence, example, and leadership.”

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About the Author:

Dr. Stephen Beeson is a nationally recognized presenter who has provided tools and tactics for engaging and training physicians to medical groups and hospitals throughout the country. Dr. Beeson’s physician training efforts have focused on providing tactical behaviors to physicians to improve patient care and drive organizational performance through physician engagement, leadership, and excellence by example.

Stephen Beeson is a board-certified family medicine physician practicing with Sharp Rees-Stealy Medical Group. In 2002, Dr. Beeson was selected by Sharp HealthCare leadership to serve as the physician Fire Starter for the Sharp Experience, an organizational commitment to service and operational excellence. Dr. Beeson’s patient satisfaction ranks him in the 99th percentile nationwide, and he was voted one of San Diego’s best physicians by the San Diego County Medical Society in 2005 and 2006. Dr. Beeson was also a recipient of the Center of Recognized Excellence Award for Individual Service Excellence in 2006.

About the Book:

Practicing Excellence: A Physician’s Manual to Exceptional Health Care (Fire Starter Publishing, 2006, ISBN-10: 0-9749986-3-X, ISBN-13: 978-09749986-3-3, $28.00) is available at bookstores nationwide, online booksellers, and at www.studergroup.com.

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