Health Care Management (Ambulatory Care Admin)

CAN ADMINISTRATORS AND PHYSICIANS WORK TOGETHER?

Due to the recent and upcoming changes in the healthcare system, physicians, hospitals, and ambulatory care facilities are becoming more and more pressured to contract with one another and offer a more seamless means for healthcare.  Please answer the questions below such that this is the case a hospital and group of physicians working together to integrate systems. 

--George Johnson has been a CEO of 150-bed Saint Vincent's Hospital for 17 years.  Over that long period of time, he has become known as a strong leader and a person not to be crossed. 

When several physicians approached George two years ago about establishing a task force to look into starting an integrated system, little did they know that George had been attending conferences and studying the literature on this subject.  He had been told to be patient, to not take the lead or get ahead of the physicians.  He was thrilled that physicians wanted to proceed, and a task force was formed.

During the six months of meetings of the physician-dominated task force, George seldom spoke.  In fact, there were meetings where he uncharacteristically  never said a word.  However, George and his staff were active in the background, providing information to the consultants and suggesting strategies for getting physicians to buy in to the process.  The process resulted in the formation of a for-profit limited liability health plan.  Although it was not the organizational model George had envisioned, it worked to move the organization into integrated health care.

Case Discussion Questions:

1. What were the strengths of the process described in the case study?

2. If George had taken a more active role, would the same result have been accomplished?

3. Who was leading the process?  Explain your answer.