Senior Hospital Physician Leaders’ Perspectives on Factors That Impact Physician Engagement: A Qualitative Interview Study

Abstract

Background

Physicians are essential in health-care delivery. Physician engagement, defined as active participation in administrative and leadership activities in their organization, is a useful metric for hospital leaders to evaluate as they develop and implement strategy. The purpose of this study was to gain insight into the perspectives of senior hospital physician leaders on factors impacting physician engagement.

Methods

Semi-structured interviews were conducted virtually. A purposive sample was used. Hospital physician senior leaders were recruited from Ontario public hospitals in Canada. The interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed.

Results

Ten participants in senior hospital physician leadership positions were interviewed. Seven themes were identified as impacting physician engagement: being seen and being heard, accountability, trust, leadership engagement, intercommunication, organizational stability, and discord within the organization. Saturation of themes was achieved.

Conclusion

Two-way communication is essential to physician engagement. Physician input in decision-making processes is a vital way to improve engagement. For this to work, leadership must also be engaged. Trust and accountability are critical attributes for senior hospital physician leaders, especially during times of organizational instability. For physicians whose remuneration model is fee-for-service, new compensation models are required for them to actively participate in hospital decision-making.

Keywords:

• physician engagement
• hospitals
• leadership
• interviews as a topic
• qualitative research

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank all participants that volunteered for this study.

Author Contributions

All authors made a significant contribution to the work reported, whether that is in the conception, study design, execution, acquisition of data, analysis, and interpretation or in all these areas; took part in drafting, revising, or critically reviewing the article; gave final approval of the version to be published; have agreed on the journal to which the article has been submitted; and agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work.

Disclosure

The authors declare that they have no competing interests for this work.

Additional information

Funding

This research received no external funding.