Meaningful physician engagement is essential to a health care organization’s ability to deliver high-quality, cost-effective patient care. But for the past 2 decades—as BC’s health authorities were regionalized and doctors in hospitals became even busier with capacity and wait-list pressures—doctors and administrators have been challenged to build effective collaborative processes that ensure physicians are included in decision making about their work environment and patient care.
But now that’s changing. The Specialist Services Committee’s Facility Engagement Initiative supports physicians who work in acute care facilities across BC to establish formal structures that increase their voice and influence in their hospital and region.
Since Facility Engagement was introduced 4 years ago, 72 medical staff associations (MSAs) have partnered with their health authorities to build a new foundation for collaboration. With funding available for MSA administrative and management support and physician sessional time, MSAs are setting priorities, renewing relationships with health authority leaders, and initiating collaborative activities—more than 1400 to date.
Thanks to these efforts, the tide is starting to turn.
As a first step to creating a foundation for collaboration, many MSAs have improved physician-to-physician relationships. This is the most notable change associated with Facility Engagement to date, as reported in the 2019 evaluation of the initiative (www.facilityengagement.ca/evaluation [11]). Two examples of the 160-plus activities with this goal are:
Improved communication with health authorities is another notable change. Physicians, administrators, and health authority executives are meeting regularly and establishing collaborative processes. More physicians are taking on leadership roles. Progress to date is illustrated by dozens of examples, such as:
Physicians are also looking to improve their work environment and patient care, initiating more than 200 collaborative projects with hospital administrators, front-line staff, and regional health authority leaders.
Physicians have also taken the opportunity to explore how they can reduce the risk of burnout and provide patient care in a healthier way. Physician health is a common theme for MSA’s facility engagement work, with more than 100 related activities underway across BC.
Facility Engagement is also supporting medical staff engagement in the implementation of electronic health records, starting with Lower Mainland hospitals that are adopting the Cerner system.
There is more work to be done to achieve sustained change, and further evaluation of the Facility Engagement Initiative will determine its ongoing impact. Meanwhile, physicians and health authority leaders from many parts of the province report they are making headway. They are building trust and having constructive conversations about plans and decisions that impact their hospitals, programs, and patient services.
A sense of optimism is fueling the initiative across BC as physicians enjoy renewed teamwork and make positive changes that make a difference to their work culture and their patients’ experience and care.
Read what physicians are saying about Facility Engagement at www.facilityengagement.ca/whatschanging [12]. Read more examples of progress at www.facilityengagement.ca/stories [13].
—Sam Bugis, MD
Vice President, Physician Affairs and Specialist Practice
—Cindy Myles
Director, Facility Physician Engagement, Specialist Services Committee
hidden
This article is the opinion of the Specialist Services Committee and has not been peer reviewed by the BCMJ Editorial Board.
Links
[1] https://bcmj.org/cover/december-2019
[2] https://bcmj.org/author/sam-bugis-md
[3] https://bcmj.org/author/cindy-myles
[4] https://bcmj.org/node/7561
[5] https://bcmj.org/sites/default/files/BCMJ_Vol61_No10-SSC.pdf
[6] https://bcmj.org/print/ssc/physician-engagement-gains-traction-across-bc
[7] https://bcmj.org/printmail/ssc/physician-engagement-gains-traction-across-bc
[8] http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=https://bcmj.org/print/ssc/physician-engagement-gains-traction-across-bc&via=BCMedicalJrnl&tw_p=tweetbutton&via=BCMedicalJrnl&tw_p=tweetbutton
[9] https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=Physician engagement gains traction across BC&url=https://bcmj.org/print/ssc/physician-engagement-gains-traction-across-bc&via=BCMedicalJrnl&tw_p=tweetbutton&via=BCMedicalJrnl&tw_p=tweetbutton&via=BCMedicalJrnl&tw_p=tweetbutton
[10] https://bcmj.org/javascript%3A%3B
[11] http://www.facilityengagement.ca/evaluation
[12] http://www.facilityengagement.ca/whatschanging
[13] http://www.facilityengagement.ca/stories
[14] https://bcmj.org/modal_forms/nojs/webform/176
[15] https://bcmj.org/%3Finline%3Dtrue%23citationpop