Fundamental Reasons Why Groups Need Leadership – Part 2

To Enhance Teamwork

Strong leadership allows the whole practice to function more effectively as a team. Even for practices with top-performing administrators, physicians need a peer leader to tend to elements of practice only another doctor can truly understand. A physician leader, working with a good practice manager, can ensure that the practice has a strategic plan, knows where it’s headed, and doesn’t get caught off guard with outdated infrastructure and disgruntled staff.

To Provide Perspective

One constant in medical practice “business” is that it’s always changing. By having a physician leader who keeps abreast of developments in the national and local healthcare picture, a practice is better prepared to react. Many practices allow leaders extra time away from clinical practice to attend conferences or seminars.

Leaders also must look at the practice itself as a whole — how each physician’s actions cumulatively affect the practice. For example, each member probably knows the number of patients he or she sees each day, but the leader should be aware of the differences among physicians.

Often in practices without active leadership, the physicians just go on their merry way assuming everything’s taken care of. They don’t recognize the talents they need, responsibilities people take on, burdens they have, and they don’t necessarily reward and acknowledge the contributions of other people the way they could to get even better results.