Effective physician engagement is complex

In the recent MH article “Physician comp is crucial to value-based care. Getting it right is hard” (Aug. 16, p. 36), Dr. Robert Fields of Mount Sinai Health System asserted, “The most powerful thing you can do for physician engagement is to directly compensate them in a way that’s tied to performance on a contract.”

With respect to the role of a wellwritten contract, it is simplistic to say that one element is a singular determinant of physician engagement.

Put simply, engaged physicians help organizations grow and thrive. Without engagement, it is an uphill battle.

The business case for improving physician’s working environment has been made convincingly. Dr. Tait Shanafelt describes the complexity of relationships as anchored in three distinct areas: a culture of wellness, efficiency of practice, and personal resilience. Putting focus on a single area without investing in others will not achieve the goal of physician engagement.

Enloe Medical Center has experienced multiple disasters since 2018, including the Camp Fire and the current pandemic. Despite this, physician engagement ranked at the 84th percentile in 2018 and the 82nd percentile in 2020 by Gallup. Published studies found that physician engagement is complex and multifactorial. Physicians attribute engagement to specific actions taken by administration, their physician groups and by physician leaders. Physician leaders interviewed all identified more than one factor as being important.

Dr. Marcia Nelson Chief medical officer, Enloe Medical Center, Chico, California