HR needs to understand this (before launching a physician well-being program)
Sandy Scott, FACHE, MPA
I coach physician leaders to drive patient-centered change — and achieve their impossible goals with ease
We thrive at work (and life) when we experience:
- Autonomy
- Mastery
- Purpose
We feel less well-being when we're disconnected from these elements. For physicians, those feelings can impact quality, safety and the patient experience.
This list provides a framework for Chief Human Resource Officers (CHROs) to make a plan to increase physician well-being and restore a culture aligned with their organization’s vision and mission.
I recommend using this list to spark conversations with key stakeholders, always keeping the goal of physician well-being in mind.
1. Be Open
Spoiler Alert: If you’re doing it right, the well-being initiative you roll-out will rarely look like the one you originally envisioned.
2. Identify your Executive Sponsor(s)
What to do: Ask the system Chief Medical Officer, Chief Quality Officer or other executive to be executive sponsor. The executive sponsor is highly visible and provides authority and credibility necessary for successful change. They’re a role-model that strategically connects with people to talk about why this is needed. The ideal executive sponsor has strengths in communication, relationship building and empathy with physicians.
What not to do: Don’t choose someone who lacks emotional intelligence or lacks the ability to lead effective change at the system level.
3. Form a Well-Being Committee
What to do: Identify true champions in the organization and select a good mix of people from different departments and different levels who are willing to make an emotional commitment to the work. Also confirm that resources are available.
What not to do: Don’t select physicians by title, physicians who blame others, or physicians who lack interest in generating a solution.
4. Create a Vision for Change
What to do: Develop a short summary (1-2 sentences) that captures what you “see” as the future of well-being in the organization. Make sure to hit on the WIFM (What’s In It For Me) for physicians. Develop a plan to executive the vision by picking a model, an assessment tool, an intervention and metrics to track and measure. Inspire well-being committee members to practice “vision speech” as often as they can. Make sure the assessment is autonomous and confidential. Identify interventions that support a sense of individualization for physicians, increases peer interactions, and is research based (ie: not a cookie-cutter or band-aid solution).
What not to do: Don’t ask C-Suite leaders to develop the vision without engaging physicians input. Don’t assume the need for change is obvious.
5. Over-communicate the Vision
What to do: Develop a communication plan to connect with providers in different ways. Engage people’s hearts by sharing compelling stories. Schedule deliberate rounding across the organization to talk often about the change and openly address peoples’ concerns. Lead by example and tie everything back to the vision.
What not to do: Don’t develop a vision that’s too complex or vague. Don’t develop a vision that can’t be translated into day-to-day changes that are meaningful to providers. Don’t rely on email or existing communication channels that are easy but ineffective.
6. Implement the Plan
What to do: Connect with people across the organization, look for the areas in the organization where resistance is low and identify the early adopters. Mobilize the early adopters to communicate vision and help implement the plan. The goal is to engage 50%+ of providers. Work with internal resources to assign timelines and accountability to implement the plan.
What not to do: Don’t tolerate a lack of accountability to implement the plan. Don’t allow political agendas to take over. Don’t assume a technical solution will take care of things. Organizations that mobilize less than 50% of providers tend to fail in realizing the vision.
7. Remove Obstacles
What to do: Listen to providers. Listen deeply to how they want to help be part of the solution. Follow-up with what is being done. Follow-up about how others can be part of the strategy and solution. Follow-up!
What not to do: Don’t ignore areas of resistance in the culture. Don’t ignore the political environment or any technical challenges.
8. Monitor and celebrate Progress
What to do: Communicate progress immediately and throughout communication channels that actually work. Recognize key stakeholders in meaningful ways. Build momentum by acknowledging key milestones to the larger group.
What not to do: Don’t get too busy to track progress. Don’t think well-being is too soft to measure and only look at hard metrics. Don’t expect results too soon. Leaders often underestimate the impact they can have in the long-term and overestimate the impact they will have in the short term.
9. Build and Anchor the Change in Culture
What to do: Talk about progress every chance you get. Tell stories about the process and repeat stories often. Identify systems and structures to assure long-lasting implementation. Integrate key learnings into provider on-boarding, training, compensation. Organizations may choose to add clinician well-being to their scorecards.
What not to do: Don't ignore new competencies needed to maintain culture of well-being. Don’t forget to communicate progress immediately and consistently.
I have worked with more than 600 physicians from around the world and I’ve observed these three truths:
- Physicians have invested extreme amounts of time, energy, money and personal mojo to become physicians.
- Physicians are incredibly committed to quality patient care.
- Physicians often feel they are reporting to many “masters” across the organization, which can lead to feeling exhaustion, yet they want to be part of the solution.
These three observations create a tremendous invitation for CHRO’s to understand the power of meeting physicians where they are.
According to the Transtheoretical Model (TTM) for change, people in organizations are often in different states of readiness for change. The strategies to support people in each of these stages are different, so it’s important to build a well-being initiative that provides a combination of education, support, barrier removal and encouragement.
Creating a culture of physician well-being is a game changer.
It’s a game-changer for physicians themselves, their teams, their patients and the organization. It’s amazing what can become available when we invest in people, the right way.
Imagine a world where we set physicians up to feel connection to leadership, appreciation, peer support, meaning, community and input to delivering excellent patient care.
I can see this world starting to become reality.
For your organization, it begins with YOU finding YOUR unique way to develop and implement a well-being initiative that ACTUALLY supports physicians.
(This article is based upon Dr. John Kotter’s 8-Step Model for Change)