There was a time when PHO (pronounced “fah”) was a tasty Vietnamese soup. In today’s changing healthcare environment, a P.H.O. (Physician-Hospital Organization) may be the clinical integration model that saves private practice. But do we have what it takes to enter such a joint-corporate venture with area hospitals, and with each other?
Partnering with our hospitals/ hospital systems AND with each other will be an opportunity few of us have encountered or prepared for in the years we have spent building solo and small private practices. Here are a few critical qualities to consider if we hope to be successful forming a strategic alliance with the hospitals where we work.
· Individual excellence: All sides (physicians of all specialties, physician leadership, hospital administrators and hospital staff) bring unique strengths. No one person or group can be expected to prop up the other.
· Importance: The relationship must matter strategically to all sides.
· Interdependence: Each participant in a joint venture like a P.H.O. needs the others. Hospitals need us and we need them. Specialists need primary care physicians. Participants must acknowledge that there is some level of interdependence in any strategic partnership. Patients need us all to work together well to achieve common goals and excellent outcomes.
· Investment: We have all wondered what this will cost us. Is there a price? How soon will we realize any return on our own investment $? What is our “sweat equity” worth? Yet for clinical integration to thrive participants must have a stake in each others’ success.
· Information: Information collected and shared for the purposes of demonstrating value and improving quality is the glue of any clinical integration effort. Transparency strengthens the partnership; hiding information impedes trust.
· Integration: Agreeing to meet quality standards that we choose and hold each other accountable to is the first step toward physician integration. Leadership and governing bodies are selected to serve as multiple points of contact across the organizations.
· Institutionalization: A formal structure can aid in objectivity and ensure the partnership works for all sides.
· Integrity: Trust is critical and ethics are a must.
I’ve written before about how physicians build trust, demonstrate compassion, provide stability and inspire hope every single day with their patients. As our medical community navigates this era of patient-centered accountable care, physicians must in our dealings with the hospitals and with each other.
Adapted from "How to Strike Effective Alliances and Partnerships" by Rosabeth Moss Kanter. and Harvard Business Review’s “Management Tip of the Day,” from June 04, 2009.
