Dive Brief:
- The American Hospital Association is launching a physician alliance aimed at improving relations between doctors and leadership, clinician wellness and population health initiatives.
- AHA Physician Alliance is “a multi-year effort to provide new resources, services and experiences on a range of issues including resilience, leadership, management, population and community health, team-based interprofessional care, developed specifically for physicians within AHA-member organizations,” according to a statement from AHA Senior Vice President Jay Bhatt.
- AHA says the program will include webinars, podcasts, issue briefs, guides and new educational tracks at flagship meetings.
Dive Insight:
The program revolves around three seemingly simple directives: Lead well. Be well. Care well.
The chairwoman of the AHA taskforce to lead the initiative is Dr. Melinda Estes, a member of the board and CEO at Saint Luke’s Health System. “When physician and administrative leadership unite, powerful change is possible,” she said in a press release.
In his introduction of the program, Bhatt tells the story of small rural hospital that faced closure after trouble recruiting physicians. The hospital found success by reducing on-call hours and incentivizing international service. It made two key hires that have enabled the opening of a new facility in the community. That example “underscores the fact that physician/hospital relationships have never been more important,” he said.
Recruiting well-trained doctors to rural areas is certainly one challenge facing hospitals and health systems. Another is burnout, often tied to overbearing reporting regulations, confusing EHRs and the high stress level of the work.
Another key aim of the project, prioritizing “better health for patients and communities,” builds on the growing trend among practitioners examining social determinants of health surrounding their patients. Hospitals are partnering with community services to address issues like housing, nutrition and ease of transportation.