Physician satisfaction key drivers: Understanding the significance for hospital leaders

Debra F Sukin, The University of Texas School of Public Health

Abstract

Health care reform and declining reimbursement levels have created fierce competition among metropolitan hospitals. When hospitals expend significant time and capital meeting physician and patient expectations, understanding what drives physician satisfaction is critical to successfully navigating that competition. Alignment of hospital leaders and physicians is essential to managing a health care system where consumers are more savvy and demanding of the service and care they receive. CMS has certified more than 50 companies to survey on behalf of the health care industry. The data source used for this project is from Health Stream. Catholic Health Initiatives allowed Health Stream to share their blinded data on all participating hospitals in the Catholic Health Initiatives Health System. The data set includes physician satisfaction with each hospital's key drivers, which are the primary factors that influence or drive outcomes in the hospital. The five addressed in this study are hospital leadership, hospital nursing staff, hospital efficiency, hospital environment, and hospital quality. Each one includes specific attributes that define a hospital's performance for that key driver. Given the changing dynamics and challenges facing hospital administrators, this study addressed the extent to which physicians' overall satisfaction with the hospital is influenced by their satisfaction with those five key hospital drivers. The results demonstrate that there is a strong, statistically significant correlation between the key drivers of hospital administrative leadership, hospital nursing staff, hospital environment, hospital quality, and hospital efficiency and overall physician satisfaction with the hospital. By exploring the survey demographic information, a hospital leader might glean information pivotal to influencing each of these key indicators to ensure high overall physician satisfaction. This information could play a role in hospital leaders beginning to understand how a physician's practice business model could influence the physician's needs and interactions with a hospital. This study recommends further analysis of factors that drive satisfaction among primary care physicians. Monitoring the influence of hospital key drivers and their attributes on the satisfaction of employed physicians with the hospital and understanding the relationship will elucidate the potential return on investment of resources necessary for a positive influence, given hospital limited capital and operational resources.

Subject Area

Health care management

Recommended Citation

Sukin, Debra F, "Physician satisfaction key drivers: Understanding the significance for hospital leaders" (2014). Texas Medical Center Dissertations (via ProQuest). AAI3689791.
https://digitalcommons.library.tmc.edu/dissertations/AAI3689791

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