Dive Brief:
- Doctors with a hospitalist's background and leadership abilities are a strong fit for the C-suite, according to a piece published in The Hospitalist.
- "Hospitalists are leading teams; they are quarterbacking care," Kathy Bollinger, president of the Arizona West Region of Banner Health, told the publication." A good hospitalist brings the team together."
- In addition to having insider knowledge and a problem-solving attitude, hospitalists leaders are also well-positioned to recruit physicians and retain them because of their credibility as a fellow clinicians, the article notes.
Dive Insight:
While hospitalists may be well positioned to take on a C-suite role, some observers feel that the hospitalist should work their way up to the C-level by starting with lower-level roles, the article observes. What's more, hospitalists and physician leaders may need additional training such as an MBA or medical management degree to prepare for being an administrator. Either way, though, assuming they perform well, it seems that hospitalists as a group may be only a few years away from one of the top spots at their hospital.