While the thought of stepping away from a career that defines us may be daunting, there exists a perfect opportunity for physicians in pre-retirement to embrace a role that allows for a more relaxed pace without sacrificing fulfillment. Let us explore the ideal job for a physician seeking a transition that nurtures their passion while fostering a healthier work-life balance.

A Mentorship Role

One path that perfectly aligns with the values and expertise of a physician in pre-retirement is mentorship. Sharing the wealth of knowledge and experience gained throughout one's medical career can be profoundly rewarding. Becoming a mentor allows us to guide and shape the next generation of medical professionals, imparting not only clinical skills but also the invaluable wisdom gained from years of patient care. This role fosters a sense of purpose and gives physicians an opportunity to make a lasting impact on the future of healthcare.

While mentorship is generally a non-compensated role, it can develop into paid coaching or consulting. To make the transition, formal coaching training, and certification may be worth the investment of time and money, but may not be necessary. Starting a formal consulting company will usually require some basic accounting and legal help to get started, but otherwise is fairly straightforward,

Academic Positions

For those inclined toward a more intellectually stimulating environment, pursuing academic positions can be an excellent option. Transitioning into teaching roles within medical schools or universities offers an opportunity to engage with eager minds, contribute to research, and shape the future of medicine through education. 

Such positions may involve teaching medical students, supervising residents, or conducting research, allowing physicians to maintain a connection to the medical field while embracing a slower pace.

Locum Tenens or Part-time Work

Another viable option for pre-retirement physicians seeking a more flexible schedule is exploring locum tenens or part-time work. Locum tenens positions offer the freedom to work temporary assignments in various healthcare settings, providing an opportunity to explore different practice environments and locations. 

This flexibility allows physicians to select assignments that align with their preferences and availability, granting them the freedom to take time off for personal pursuits or travel. And those doing locums work in hospitals do not need to get involved with hospital politics or participate in committee and department meetings.

Nonclinical Roles

Transitioning into nonclinical roles can be an intriguing avenue for physicians seeking a change. Pharmaceutical companies, insurance providers, communication companies, and healthcare consulting firms often seek the expertise of seasoned physicians to guide their strategies and ensure a patient-centered approach. These roles allow pre-retirement physicians to utilize their medical knowledge and experience in a different capacity while embracing a slower-paced work environment.

Community Service and Volunteer Work

Many physicians enter the medical field driven by a desire to serve their communities. Pre-retirement can be an opportune time to delve deeper into community service and volunteer work. Organizations such as free clinics, humanitarian aid groups, or medical missions offer avenues for physicians to utilize their skills while making a difference in underserved populations. 

There are also opportunities to serve on public health boards, and healthcare-related boards such as those for hospice provider organizations, hospitals, and other nonprofits. Engaging in such endeavors allows physicians to reconnect with their initial motivations for entering the medical profession and find renewed fulfillment in serving others. And these unpaid positions may serve as a segue into compensated positions.

Conclusion

The transition from a demanding medical career to a more relaxed pace in pre-retirement can be a fulfilling journey for a physician. Whether it's embracing a mentorship role, pursuing academic positions, exploring locum tenens or part-time work, venturing into nonclinical roles, or engaging in community service and volunteer work, there are various options available to match individual preferences and goals. 

By leveraging our expertise and experience, we can continue to contribute to the medical field while prioritizing our own well-being and achieving a healthier work-life balance. Embrace this transition as an opportunity to discover new paths, nurture your passion, and create a meaningful impact beyond the confines of clinical practice.

Other resources:

Why You Must Dare to Discover Your Purpose When You Retire (podcast episode)

How to Go from Retirement to Ardent CMO and Medical Expert (podcast episode)

How to Find Nonclinical Opportunities in Retirement (podcast episode)

The post Embracing a Fulfilling Transition: The Ideal Job for a Pre-Retirement Physician appeared first on NonClinical Physicians.

When I jumped in and took my first executive position as vice president for medical affairs, it began a period of growth that I had not experienced since medical school and residency.

During that time, I was constantly feeling a sense of discomfort. I was only partially prepared for my new role. The experiences that felt especially uncomfortable were:

• Being the outsider at meetings with the CEO and other members of the executive team, who had worked together and met weekly for years before I joined them;
• Learning to interact with, support, lead and inspire the directors who actually ran my division;
• Accepting full accountability for my own performance and that of my division; and,
• Understanding and embracing budgets.

Over time, as I developed skills in these areas, my discomfort lessened. But the CEO and COO always saw to it that new challenges were identified. They tried to ensure that professional growth continued for all members of the team.

I'll come back to the growth discussion later. For now, I'd like to update my list of physician authored blogs and podcasts.

Updates on Physician Blogs

I have found some new blogs and podcasts to add to my list of physician authored blogs. I recommend you check them out. They are generally inspiring and often very interesting. Here they are:

The Boss MD

From the About page: “To equip doctors with the skills to effectively contribute to healthcare organizations and manage their careers.”

The Boss MD is an internist and the blog is rather eclectic, covering topics that are personal, professional and financial.

My Curiosity Lab

From the About page: “At base, this is an attempt to put what is on my mind on the page. Some of the topics you can expect to see include:

Life and health experimentation
Parenting
Travel (including family travel)
Early retirement
Personal finance
Food (cooking and eating out)”

This author is a radiologist and he covers a fairly eclectic mix of topics, as noted above.

Dr. Corriel MD

According to the author, Dana Corriel, her content is as follows: “As readers, you will be seeing a mix of material- both medicine and parenthood-related, and even some of the other beautiful things in life that I enjoy sharing- food I love, experiences I want to share, my love of vintage, and more.”

She is an internist addressing an eclectic mix of subject matter.

The Health Care Blog

From the About page: THCB covers the business of healthcare, national healthcare policy, technology and day-to-day health care news.

The publisher is Matthew Holt, and he is not a physician. But I include this blog because the topics area relevant, and many of the writers are physicians. The topics relate to the healthcare industry, and the specialties of the contributors varies.

TheExaminingRoom.com

According to the side bar, this blog is: “A physician's commentary on current issues in medicine, clinical research, health, and wellness.” We don't know his specialty, but he appears to write mostly about health and wellness.

Two New Personal Finance Blogs

Doctors on Debt

Here is information from the About page: “We are a married couple in our early 30’s, and we each practice our chosen healthcare professions in a small-ish Midwest city. We live in a little house with our child and a temperamental cat. We are not millionaires. We are not financially-free. Our goal is simple: Get rid of our student loans ASAP, and make other smart financial decisions along the way.”

This one is dedicated to personal finance. The specialties of the Doctors on Debt are not specified.

Miss Bonnie MD

From the About page: “…there is an enormous gap in knowledge and resources for how professional women should not only manage money but also tackle the rising cost of childcare, divorce, elder care, and other unique concerns for breadwinning women.”

Miss Bonnie MD is a dermatologist and she writes about personal finance.

How About Two Podcasts

Weight Loss for Busy Physicians

Katrina Ubell is a pediatrician with a focus on weight loss for physicians.

According to Ubell: “What I do is create a safe space for you to unpack all of the baggage that is manifesting itself as extra fat on your body. Then, piece by piece, we work through all of it.”

She mostly produces podcast episodes and provides coaching services for interested followers.

Hippocratic Hustle

This is a podcast by Carrie Reynolds, a pediatric gastroenterologist, who is devoted to creating “a space where women doctors can come together and share their stories of their business, project or side-hustle. We will also explore ways to stretch our hard earned dollars and be more efficient with our time and money. Join us as we explore the many creative ways women can practice medicine.” Her focus is on careers.

I will soon add these nine blogs and podcasts to the Physician Blogs Page.

Please send me any new physician authored blogs that you encounter.

Now for a New Growth and Discomfort Opportunity

One of the reasons I cut back to weekly posts a couple of months ago was to work on a new project. Let me provide some background.

During my research of topics for emerging physician executives, I've observed a great deal of interest by physicians in a variety of nonclinical careers. Management is not meant for everyone.

Some are more interested in work as a medical advisor or expert witness. A career in coaching or consulting is intriguing for others. There are numerous other career opportunities that enable physicians to:

• reduce or eliminate direct patient contact;
• fill the need to explore new opportunities and engage new and untapped skills;
• abandon some of the frustrations of “routine medical practice,” whatever the specialty; and,
• recapture passion for their careers.

I have addressed this broader issue of nonclinical careers in several posts, including:

• How to Pivot and Launch A New Career: A Book Review
• Is it Time for a Non-Clinical Career?
• Options for a Non-Clinical Career

I clearly have an affinity for hospital management, and will continue to recommend it as a challenging and rewarding, career choice. But there is an almost endless universe of other career opportunities that can be explored.

New Facebook Discovery

I recently discovered a very interesting and popular Facebook Group called Physician NonClinical Career Hunters. It is moderated by Laura McKain, MD, who works in the pharmaceutical industry. The group has been growing rapidly. As I’m preparing this post, it has just reached 6,000 physician members.

Reading through the posts, and interacting with the members and McKain, leads me to believe this is an area with a lot of ongoing interest.

Goodbye clinical career?

This is understandable, because the rapid changes in healthcare have caused many of us to rethink our commitment to direct patient care. And like any group of people, we all have different gifts that sometimes do not become apparent until later in our lives.

The Upshot

So…

I’m in the process of putting together a podcast that will address this very issue. It will be designed to inspire, inform, and support physicians seeking a “side hustle” or a full-time career in an area beyond direct patient care.

I look forward to learning more about the options available to physicians. I will be speaking to issues related to management, leadership and administration, as I have done on this blog. My plan is to learn more about other opportunities along with my listeners, by interviewing experts and physicians who have already successfully made the transition to one of these careers.

I’d ask that you check back from time to time to see the inaugural podcast episode. I will present the cover art and the name of the podcast on a future blog post before the podcast is released.

My goal is to publish the first episode by the end of September. I'll do everything I can to accomplish that.

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QUESTION

My additional request is that you let me know which nonclinical career you would most like to hear about. You can respond via email at  johnjurica@nonclinical.buzzmybrand.net or use the Voice Message option.

Next Steps

Please add you're thoughts and questions in the Comments. I will respond to them all.

SHARE this post, SUBSCRIBE Here and complete a SURVEY .

Contact me: johnjurica@nonclinical.buzzmybrand.net

Until next time.

The post Growth And Discomfort for the Vital Physician Executive appeared first on NonClinical Physicians.

Besides, numerous surveys of, and interviews with, successful business leaders and entrepreneurs report the importance of following one's passion. 

But there are two serious statistical concepts at play that place such advice on shaky ground.

Bad Advice

The first is that correlation does not equal causation. To the contrary, it's quite possible that success fosters passion. It's perfectly logical to become passionate about a career that has brought fame and fortune.

The second is survivorship bias. Yes, a high percentage of successful persons declare that passion was responsible for their success. But for every successful business owner, there are often many unsuccessful business owners.

About 60% of new restaurants fail within 3 years. Most of the founders were probably passionate about starting a restaurant. But if they were all passionate when they started (including the failures), then the correlation with success is zero at best.

Yet we never hear from the unsuccessful business founders or career seekers. Who would interview someone about being a failure?

So, the presence of passion itself probably does not correlate with success, just as the TV show American Idol has demonstrated that passion for singing does not correlate with the ability to sing well.

This particular example was mentioned by Ben Horowitz  when he spoke at some length about passion while presenting the commencement address to the class of 2015 at Columbia University .

He described why passion is probably overrated as a reason to follow a career path or create a business:

1. You probably have several passions, so which do you choose?
2. Passions change over time.
3. Your passion does not always correlate with your abilities.
4. Following your passion is too self-centered.

Horowitz’s advice was to “follow your contribution.”

Lessons From “Dirty Jobs”

Mike Rowe of Dirty Jobs fame, seems to agree with Horowitz. Based on his talking with dozens of people doing “dirty jobs,” he's found that his hosts often developed a love for a particular job after they had done it for a while and become reasonably good at it. He clearly advises against following your passion.

He recommends following opportunity to select a job. Look for what's needed in a market, get good at the job, and prosper by being good at it. The excitement and passion follow because the job has become so prosperous. He also agrees that passion and ability often do NOT correlate, so pursuing a career based on passion, but lacking in ability, can be a terrible waste of time.

Unexpected Findings

Several years ago, I was reviewing the results of our recent Top 100 Hospital designation. At the time, there were nine categories that hospitals and health systems were ranked on. These nine compromised a pretty good balanced scorecard and we had put several specific programs in place to address the Top 100 measures.

As I looked over our results for each of the nine categories, I was surprised by the following observation. We had performed slightly below average to somewhat above average on most of the measures. There were only two in which we had performed significantly above average.

Yet, here we were, one of the top performing hospitals in the country based on this basket of quality, financial and satisfaction measures. And we were certainly not top ranked in most of them.

I found that it was more important to rank average to above average across the board, than to perform exceptionally well in one or two measures. Apparently, most hospitals have difficulty performing average to slightly above average in all measures, even though they may be spectacular in one or two, because very few hospitals are able to achieve a Top 100 rating even once.

By consistently pushing on all of the important domains, from mortality rate, to length of stay, profit margin and patient satisfaction, we were able to outperform most of the other hospitals in the country in terms of overall performance.

That was an eye-opening realization for me.

Unorthodox Career Advice

The second bit of advice concerning preparation for a career change has to do with those who have not yet decided exactly which career to follow. Especially if you're early in your clinical career and uncertain of which direction to go, the tactics for finding a new career, in addition to forgetting about your passion, may be to abandon goals and start acquiring skills.

Just as the top healthcare organizations don't have to be the best in every major hospital performance measure, the most successful leaders may not need to be experts in every leadership skill.

In his book How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big, Scott Adams describes how he came to be a nationally recognized, award-winning writer of the Dilbert cartoon.

He explains that it wasn’t his passion or intense study of humor or drawing. It wasn’t his having spent 10,000 or 20,000 hours learning his craft.

It resulted from his being mediocre to reasonably good in several, apparently disparate, fields:

1. Drawing
2. Business
3. Writing
4. Early adopter of technology (the Internet)
5. Sense of humor

He writes that combining his mediocre skills in each of these areas enabled him to achieve outstanding success in the area of writing a funny comic strip about characters in an imaginary work setting. And he had no idea that these skills would come together to make him wildly successful. He also suggests that his success contributed to his eventual passion for writing Dilbert.

Increase Your Odds of Success

His rough estimate is that each additional skill doubles our chance of success. Here is the list of skills that Adams recommends everyone become reasonably good at:

• Public speaking
• Psychology
• Business writing
• Accounting
• Design (the basics)
• Conversation
• Overcoming shyness
• Second language
• Golf
• Proper grammar
• Persuasion
• Technology (hobby level)
• Proper voice technique

To reiterate, Adams is a proponent of “stacking average skill sets” until a combination of skills creates an above average mix.

My Take On Choosing Skills to Stack

I don’t completely agree with Adam's list, especially for physicians looking to move into a new (nonclinical) career. I would probably make some adjustments, dropping golf and combining some items to come up with my starting list:

• Writing (includes, spelling and grammar skills)
• Public speaking (includes “voice technique”)
• Second language
• Accounting (and finance)
• Psychology and persuasion (includes negotiating skills)

I'm assuming that most clinicians have already developed a set of skills that serve them well and are already in play:

• Leadership
• Composure (ability to work under pressure)
• Strong work ethic
• Communication (one on one)
• Logical thinking and a working understanding of the scientific method
• Human physiology and biochemistry
• Focus/Concentration

Then stacking additional skills would open the possibilities for other career choices:

• Legal concepts and resistance to criticism, to be an expert witness
• Healthcare finances, running meetings, project management and writing, for hospital or medical group management
• Case management and conflict resolution, to be a medical advisor
• Basic or applied research, writing, and statistics and epidemiology, to be a medical writer

In reality, many of these careers share certain skill sets, as shown in the following graphic.

Final Take-aways

When considering a career in management, or any other nonclinical field, I recommend this unorthodox career advice:

1. Don't spend too much time worrying about finding your passion. Ultimately, your passion may find you, or develop along the way.
2. Identify and develop useful skills that will compliment those you've already acquired during years of education and training.
3. Focus on acquiring additional skill sets (quantity) rather than on perfecting a smaller set of such skills (quality or mastery).

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Can you think of times when adding new skills was more important that honing established ones?

Was there a time when following your passion was a waste of time, or even harmful?

Next Steps

Please add you're thoughts in the Comments.

SHARE this post, SUBSCRIBE Here and complete a SURVEY .

Email me: at johnjurica@nonclinical.buzzmybrand.net or record a voice message.

Until next time.

The post Effective But Unorthodox Career Advice appeared first on NonClinical Physicians.

I am re-posting the material from my previous article. However, I am adding 6 additional benefits completing a business degree provides.

More physician leaders have recently acquired an MBA, MHA, MMM or MPH (an MPH is not actually a business degree, but a significant number of physician executives have one). A business or management degree is definitely not a requirement for a career as a physician executive.

There are many successful physician leaders without such a degree. There are numerous physician CEOs, working in hospitals, insurance companies, medical groups and nonprofit organizations who don't have one.

However, if you have not already graduated from one of the 65 joint MD/MBA programs, then you will likely consider obtaining it or a similar degree after completing residency. Pursuing such a degree is a big commitment. The costs will run into the tens of thousands of dollars. It will require hundreds of hours of study and up to a three-year commitment to complete.

In spite of that, I believe you should seriously consider pursuing a business degree.

Top 10 reasons to Pursue a Business Degree.

1. Differentiate Yourself

You may have taken a leadership role and handled several projects. You demonstrated your ability to lead and manage. Now you are interviewing for a position as a full-time administrator. Frequently, you will find yourself competing with several other qualified candidates.

All things being equal (experience, expertise, communication skills, etc.), the candidate with the degree is more likely to be hired.

2. A Business Degree May Be Required

Sometimes the prospective employer will only list a preference for candidates with a master's degree in business or healthcare administration.

However, there are systems that require applicants to have a management degree. (In fact, I've even seen a few postings list a CPE (Certified Physician Executive) as a preferred qualification.)

3. Different Perspective and Enhanced Skills

This is really the most important issue. Sure, you may have participated in educational offerings (through specialty societies, the American Association for Physician Leadership, the Advisory Board, the American Hospital Association, or the American College of Healthcare Executives).

But participation and immersion in a management degree program will provide:

• more in-depth study,
• ongoing exposure to faculty,
• development of new skills, and
• more practice working in teams.

I have witnessed a transformation in colleagues who have completed a business degree. They have better mastery of the business aspects of healthcare. Consequently, they are better managers and leaders. And they display more confidence.

They have learned how to write a business plan and create a pro forma, to understand accounting, finance, marketing, and managing staff. These and other skills will benefit a physician in any enterprise, from the private solo practice, to a large organization.

4. Demonstrate Commitment

When making a shift to a new career, it is sometimes necessary to demonstrate that it is not a passing whim.

This is especially true if you are trying to obtain an administrative position at your home hospital, or in your home town at a new organization. Unfortunately, your peers and prospective employer may need evidence that your interests and skills have evolved in order to take you seriously.

5. New Mastermind Group

Working on an MBA or an MMM will help you develop a network of colleagues with similar goals and interests. These colleagues will often become friends and an ongoing resource for advice and counsel. Some may morph into an ongoing mastermind group of advisors and coaches.

6. Intellectually Stimulating and Inspirational

It's intellectually challenging and exciting. Engaging in an intense learning environment often rekindles passion for your career. A colleague of mine was inspired to address an important issue in his practice while nearing completion of his MBA, as described in this Medical Economics article.

7. Project Management

Perhaps I could have included under #3. There is definitely a process for organizing and managing a project that is not learned in medical school or residency. However, the ability to execute a project, from business plan (if needed) to specific milestones and metrics is an important skill. The course work involved in pursuing a business degree should deliver this new ability.

8. Strategic Planning

Very few physicians having any idea how to create a strategic plan. It is a critical skill needed to run any sizable organization. A full-blown strategic plan may not be needed for a small physician practice. But any large group or hospital needs regular strategic planning.

Granted, the CMO may not be the one leading it. Sometimes, an outside consultant might be employed to help run a formal strategic plan.

But strategic planning for your own division, or spending time thoughtfully considering strategic issues, is an important part of being a physician executive. A SWOT Analysis (described in When to Use a SWOT Analysis and From SWOT Analysis to Inspired Goal Setting) is often a vital part of preparing a strategic plan and is generally taught in business school.

9. Career Flexibility

Physicians already have a secure career path. They often have multiple clinical jobs available to them if they're looking. Obtaining a business degrees provides even more career opportunities, with the ability to seek jobs with a combination of clinical and/or management duties.

10. Compensation

I believe this is the least important reason to pursue an advanced business degree. Granted, seeking an MBA is an investment, so it should have a financial and personal return.

All things being equal, the respected physician with an MBA will earn about $50,000 more per year than without it. Of course, there are exceptions to that, including well-compensated hospital CEOs without a business degree or the physician MBA running a struggling practice receiving poor compensation.

But most primary care physicians who leave clinical medicine and move into a management or executive position will do better financially. The same may not be true for a high volume cardiologist or neurosurgeon moving into full-time administration. Senior level executives at most healthcare organizations are well paid.

Summary

You can readily obtain management experience through certain jobs. You can access CME to obtain additional training in business related disciplines. And you can certainly move into a management position without getting an MBA, MMM or MHA.

However, pursuing an advanced business degree is challenging and rewarding. The intense study enhances the lifelong learning to which we're all committed. And it provides an opportunity for creating meaningful lifelong relationships.

You should strongly consider pursuing a business degree.

I am very interested in your experiences with this issue.

• Have you completed a degree program during your quest to pivot from clinical to administrative work?
• If so, has it been worthwhile?

Comment below or email me at johnjurica@nonclinical.buzzmybrand.net.

The post Physician Leaders: Top 10 Reasons to Pursue a Business Degree appeared first on NonClinical Physicians.

There is no one set of skills or abilities, of course. Each organization and CEO will be looking for a set of skills to meet its unique needs. But there are some common themes.

After the hospitalist movement began, it wasn’t on the radar at our 300-bed hospital for many years. Robert Wachter and Lee Goldman made the case for dedicated hospital-based physicians years earlier. And as DRG payments failed to keep up with inflation, and inpatient care became more complicated and costly, it seemed our medical staff was not becoming any more efficient with inpatient care.

Our CEO and other executives began to read more in their professional journals about hospitalists. Hospitalists had the ability to provide more timely, evidence-based care. Community-based internists and family physicians were working in both inpatient and outpatient settings. Therefore, they had limited time to devote to hospital rounds.

And it was clear that a hospitalist service could provide better patient satisfaction, shorter lengths of stay and better documentation. The last issue resulted in better payments from Medicare. Such benefits could produce $1 million or more to our bottom line. And externally reported quality metrics would improve.

In spite of being patient-centered and quality-driven, physicians are also resistant to change, especially when the proposed change appears to threaten their autonomy. Our physicians were no different. As a result, the slightest hint of starting a hospitalist program was met with intense resistance.

There were some good arguments against adopting this new approach that might fragment a patient’s care:

• Without the PCP involved, knowledge of the patient's history and previous response to treatments might be lost.
• With handoffs on admission and discharge, there could be an increase in the risk of medication errors.
• The PCPs did not know the new hospitalists, so how could they recommend referral to them in good faith?
• Patients might be upset because they were expecting to see their own PCP when admitted to the hospital.

This situation is a good example of the type of new service line that the chief medical officer is expected to lead. In our case, the CEO asked that I develop and implement a plan to establish an effective hospitalist program. The process did not proceed quickly or easily.

Here are the steps that we followed to establish a full-time hospitalist service. The long-term goal was to staff with two daytime hospitalists and one “nocturnist,” all of whom rotated day and night shifts. The service we started was not mandated, but would be used by those physicians wishing to focus on their outpatient practices. The implementation team:

• Educated the medical staff using memos, and discussion at department and quarterly medical staff meetings; presented the supporting evidence from the literature; and, demonstrated examples from other hospitals that showed that care was measurably better and that the potential handoff problems could be prevented with good planning and communication.
• Identified several physicians who wanted (in some cases, demanded) the hospital provide such a service to free them up to focus on outpatient care ( I had already cut back my care, so I was one of the physicians seeking such a service for my patients as I transitioned into full-time administrative medicine).
• Started with a part-time service with two providers who covered the evening admissions from home, coming in as needed, until the volumes justified a full-time service.
• Interviewed several national and regional hospitalist groups in preparation for starting a full-time service with six new internists to cover the hospital as outlined above.
• Selected the best of the new programs and entered into contract negotiations.
• Executed an agreement and began interviewing candidates.
• Went live about six months later, with six newly credentialed, board-certified internists.

This process is similar to many that the hospital executive must lead. The process took years to complete. It met a strategic need, and involved staff at all levels of the organization. We worked with the formal medical staff leadership and multiple individual medical staff members. Good communication, project planning skills and patience were required.

As the CMO, I was administratively responsible for the implementation. This meant that I:

• dealt with the concerns of the medical staff by listening to them in every venue conceivable;
• developed the structure of the program, and the timeline for implementation, with input from other senior executives;
• worked with the facilities department to identify office space for the hospitalists;
• made initial inquiries with hospitalist groups and arranged their presentations to our senior staff;
• reviewed the proposed contracts, involved our attorney and negotiated changes that we needed;
• executed the agreement and worked with the new group on implementation;
• interviewed every new candidate (as did other members of our team); and,
• approached members of our medical staff to personally invite them to use the service.

My involvement in this process is an example of what your CEO will expect of you, whether it is starting a new hospitalist program, a wound management service, or a new patient safety initiative.

Reflecting on my own experiences, speaking with hospital CEOs and CMOs, reviewing published accounts, and looking at dozens of job descriptions, I believe that there are eight primary abilities the CEO wants in a chief medical officer.

The Eight Essential Abilities

1. Patient Safety and Quality

This is the most often cited skill set. The CMO should have an excellent knowledge of healthcare quality and safety and be able to lead quality initiatives. The director(s) of quality and patient safety often report to the CMO. Hence, familiarity with these specific issues will be important:

• Sentinel Events, Never Events, Patient Safety Indicators, and Root Cause Analysis;
• Measurement of risk-adjusted mortality, complications, and readmission rates;
• National and regional quality collaboratives;
• Patient Safety Organizations, the National Quality Forum, the Institute for Healthcare Improvement and the Leapfrog Group;
• Infection control initiatives and reducing hospital-acquired infections; and,
• Pharmaceutical safety and the Institute for Safe Medical Practices best practices.

2. Medical Staff Affairs

This includes the areas of medical staff structure and governance, bylaws, and medical staff meetings. The Director of Physician Services/Medical Staff Office often reports to the CMO. Medical Staff restructuring efforts fall under this skill set.

And it is not uncommon to find the Continuing Medical Education enterprise to be housed in this area, so an understanding of CME planning and accreditation may be needed.

3. Clinical Service Line Development

This is one practical way in which the CMO contributes to the strategic initiatives of the organization. The CMO should be able to identify possible new service lines, evaluate them, present them to the senior management team and then accept accountability for successfully operationalizing them.

These new service lines could be as simple as an inpatient wound care program involving one or two wound care nurses and a medical director, to a brand new open-heart surgical program or neurosurgical service line. Or, it might be more unit based, like starting an observation unit or an inpatient dementia unit.

4. Resource Utilization and Standardized Care Processes

This requires an understanding of care management, evidence-based protocols, and nurse case management. The CMO may be administrator assigned to direct the activities of the Length of Stay Team. Measurement of the length of stay is dependant on accurate documentation and coding. Therefore, it is common for the director or manager of clinical documentation and coding to report to the CMO.

As CMO, I brought in outside documentation and coding experts to educate our staff. To do so, I executed agreements with two different consulting firms over 10 years to help us optimize our documentation and coding practices.

5. New Payment Models

The CMO will be valuable as changes in payment models drive changes in care delivery. It takes a sophisticated understanding of new care models, including inpatient and outpatient support systems, and the ability to educate and engage physicians to adopt the new models of care.

There have been many such changes over the years that have required the expertise of the physician executive. These changes have included:

• Moving from fee for service to DRG payments in the 1980s, which required physicians to think about discharging patients earlier rather than when they had reached “maximum hospital benefits” or had returned to “pre-illness level of function.”
• Helping physician colleagues to balance a shrinking length of stay with the need to reduce readmission rates in order to avoid Medicare penalties.
• Engaging care teams in new population health initiatives, such as palliative care, diabetes and other chronic care management programs.
• Creating collaborative relationships in order to implement bundled payments for elective surgical procedures such as total joint, cardiac valve, and spinal fusion or medical conditions such as congestive heart failure and acute pneumonia.

 6. Clinical IT and the Electronic Health Record

It is not surprising to find that physicians helping to implement electronic health records stay on to run the clinical informatics efforts as Chief Medical Information Officers. Often, the CMIOs progress to a broader role as CMO in many institutions.

The CMO must again demonstrate the ability to engage physicians and solve safety and quality problems, in this case with evidence-based order sets and IT solutions.

7. Communication Expert

When trying to describe important new technologies or recent quality efforts, the CMO is often chosen to deliver the message. Hence, the CMO must have the ability to take complicated topics involving epidemiology, statistics, population and public health, and quality improvement initiatives and convey them for the board and other lay audiences.

He or she also needs to be able to recruit team members to support initiatives that may not be profitable but will create better patient care and improved health outcomes.

8. Liaison to Contracted Hospital-Based Groups

Many health systems rely on the use of independent medical groups to provide certain specialty services. The most well-known specialties contracted in general medical hospitals are anesthesia, emergency medicine, and radiology. It is also common to use contracted groups for hospital medicine and pathology.

Each hospital must have a liaison who will meet regularly with the group's leadership and monitor the following issues:

• Patient satisfaction;
• Quality, safety, length of stay;
• Utilization of resources;
• Relationship with nursing, pharmacy and other professional staff;
• Maintaining regulatory compliance and being “survey-ready” at all times;
• Addressing complaints from patients, physicians and other stakeholders;
• Monitoring any financial performance measures; and,
• Soliciting feedback and input from the contracted group

The CMO is in a very good position to apply the other abilities (safety, quality, resource utilization) to the relationship with these independent hospital-based groups. The CMO can monitor performance and ensure that there is a partnership that benefits both parties. As a physician, the CMO can understand the practice challenges and empathize with issues important to physicians, further enhancing the relationship.

Wrap Up

In reality, no CMO is an expert in all of these areas. And in specific situations, some very different skills may be needed. For example, with the increasing employment of physicians as I have previously described, knowledge of physician employment, contracting and compensation design can be very helpful.

CMOs need to be adaptable and committed to life-long learning. And by developing in the eight areas described above, they will become a valued member of the senior executive team at any healthcare organization.

Next Steps

If you are serious about continuing your growth as a CMO or moving into a CMO role, spend some time reviewing job descriptions at LinkedIn or the AAPL.

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The post The Eight Essential Abilities The CEO Wants In A Chief Medical Officer appeared first on NonClinical Physicians.

What is a Career Pivot?

The author defines a career pivot as “Doubling down on what is working to make a purposeful shift in a new related direction…an intentional methodical process for nimbly navigating career change.”

In Blake’s book, she notes that most career paths consist of a series of pivots. Based on her work as a career development professional for Google, her book provides many examples of career pivots. Many involve pivots to entrepreneurial ventures, but some also involve pivots within an organization.

Her method appears to be a valid approach for a clinician to make the transition to executive leadership, as I will explain below.

Pivot Stages

She describes her Pivot Method as a 4 stage process:

1. Plant. Like the basketball player preparing to pivot in another direction, this step consists of establishing your foundation.
2. Scan. Look for opportunities – not just for a new position or career, but also for learning opportunities.
3. Pilot. Test ideas – start small and move into bigger pilots over time.
4. Launch. Make the move – it could be a partial move, a transition within a company, or a big launch to a brand new career.

Let’s walk through each step individually. But first we need some self-assessment.

Self-Assessment

Before embarking on this journey, Blake recommends that we assess our readiness. According to her, pivots work best for those that are “impactors.” She describes an impacter as someone with the following characteristics:

• Loves learning
• Action-oriented
• Enjoys new projects
• Problem solver
• Generous and cooperative
• Possesses a strong desire to make a difference
• Has a growth mindset

She goes on to describe the four possible Career Operating Modes of pivoters: inactive, reactive, proactive or innovator. Only the final two modes are consistent with successful pivoting. She describes proactive as “seeks new projects;…learns new skills; is open to change;…willing and interested in helping others.”

The innovator, she says, is in the best position to consider a pivot. Such an individual has proactive qualities and “fully taps into unique strengths, focuses on purpose-driven work…creates new solutions to benefit others.”

My Story

When I was a few years into my medical practice, I found that I was drawn to involvement in other endeavors. I was a family physician, but I found that I enjoyed the discussions that occurred in other hospital departments, so I attending pediatric, emergency medicine and obstetrics and gynecology medical staff department meetings.

Among the hospital committees, many were somewhat political, such as the Credentials Committee and the Bylaws Committee. Hence, I was drawn to the CME Committee because it was apolitical and its mission seemed to be more altruistic: to help patient care by providing high quality educational activities for our medical staff.

The author's advice is to look at our attitudes and approach and consider a pivot only if we're a proactive and/or innovative person.

Stage 1: Plant

Perhaps you have become frustrated with daily clinical medicine. The paperwork is overwhelming; the patients seem unhappy with rushed exams and delayed communication; and the documentation requirements seem to never stop growing.

And, it is not just the frustration of practice, but the fact that you have a vision and goals for your career that cannot be met in this environment. Perhaps you have a desire to help more patients, in a more global fashion. You miss working in teams. You enjoy the challenges of interacting with other professionals on big meaningful projects.

According to Blake, the Plant Stage is the time to identify our vision, values, and mission. It is a time to define our ideal day. By pivoting, what is it we wish to accomplish for ourselves? What are our priorities?

It is at this point that we may wish to write down our vision for one year from now. And perhaps list our one year knowns and unknowns with respect to location, finances, projects, people, results and lifestyle.

More of My Story

It would have helped me to write down such a vision when I began my journey to hospital executive. I did not have Blake’s questions to respond to, but I remember thinking to myself: “I want a career that…

• can fulfill my interest in population and public health, improving medical care for larger groups of patients, working in continuing education, quality and performance improvement;
• offers a better balance of lifestyle, with less call and long hours away from home;
• provides an opportunity to challenge myself, learn new skills and assist my colleagues in achieving their goals;
• is consistent with my values of integrity, industriousness, loyalty and professionalism.
• offers financial security and an opportunity to grow and advance;
• creates variety in my work – with multiple projects and new challenges along the way;
• will allow me to stay near my family (moving across the country for the “ideal job” is not an option).'

The Plant Stage also requires playing to our strengths, those skills and attitudes that make us successful now and will support our new pivot. Blake states that, if possible, this new pivot should be consistent with our “zone of excellence and genius,” what others call flow, where our competencies become unconscious in manifesting themselves.

It is during this stage that we should also be pragmatic and consider the length of our career runway. Do we have a side hustle to support us as we begin to pivot? Does the side hustle actually provide experience or insight into our possible move?

Stage 2: Scan

Blake writes that this step is for research and exploration. We have defined our values and vision. Now, let’s figure out what type of work will align with those factors.

In this stage it is helpful to seek out mentors, coaches and advisors. Speak with them about potential career pivots. What is it really like to work in management? Would working as a consultant, writer, expert witness or utilization or quality reviewer meet those needs? What does it mean to be a physician leader?

I Scan

For me, this was a time to try out different part-time paid positions, like medical director of an occupational medicine clinic and family planning clinic. I also started to volunteer, both as a board member of the hospital I eventually worked for, and in my county and state medical societies.

As a result of my work as chair of the hospital CME Committee, I was appointed to my state medical society Committee on CME Accreditation. I later became chair of the committee, learning important new skills along the way. In that capacity, I also attended quarterly state medical society board meetings, where I could meet and learn from other physician leaders.

I took advantage of an informal coaching relationship with a seasoned physician, the Chief Medical Officer for a large regional hospital. I talked with him about his transition into an administrative position and sought his advice from time to time.

This is a time when we might join professional societies whose members are seeking the same goals we are. Reading about physician leadership and attending courses by the American Association for Physician Leadership helped me to better understand the field and firm up my intention to pursue that path.

Beginning formal course work can become part of this exploration, or the end result of a mini-pivot from full-time clinical work to part-time student. But if the coursework is not exciting or rewarding, it can be dropped and another pivot considered.

During this stage, Blake advises us to develop new skills. She advises us to bolster skills that are lacking, while remembering to play to our strengths as we position ourselves to launch a new career.

Stage 3: Pilot

The goal in this stage is to do small tests. In the area of product sales, she would advise us to create a minimal viable product and see if that sells. The corollary might be to try our hand at leading a project for our hospital. Consider an apprenticeship. Jump into the MBA and see if it is resonating with us. Volunteer our time, but not just as research, but to contribute. Strongly consider the side-hustle mentioned earlier.

My Story Continues

I took a paying position as a utilization reviewer for my hospital. I became certified as a utilization reviewer. I did course work for my master's in public health. And it felt right.

Then I cut back my clinical office hours and began working as a part-time vice president for medical affairs. I attended as many meetings with the executive staff as I could, but was given the freedom to accommodate the demands of my part-time practice.

Blake advises that we pause, review and repeat this process in small ways, confirming our commitment, and allowing us to re-plant and pivot to a slightly different direction if necessary.

Stage 4: Launch

At some point, Blake says, we must make the decision to complete the pivot. We may already be 70 or 80 percent of the way there. But this is the point of starting the new business full-time, leaving the old job and side hustle behind and fully embracing the new career.

It is at this time that we must complete any fierce conversations that have not occurred. We must inform our boss or partner(s) of our plans to move on and launch a new career.

My Launch

I remember telling my partner that I had made the decision to go full-time as a hospital executive. With about 6 month’s notice, we worked together to move all of my patients to her practice. I transitioned the responsibilities of managing the practice to her over time.

Devoting full attention to my duties as VPMA, I stopped taking office call. Shortly after going full-time, I was promoted to Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer.

Even after the final pivot, there are no guarantees. Things don’t always work out. But we've taken steps to minimize the chance of failure. Even a so-called failure can serve as a good stepping stone to the next pivot, however. The author provides plenty examples of failed pivots that ultimately led to raging successes.

Summing Up

Pivot provides a great model for considering and implementing a career change. The model definitely applies to the emerging physician executive.

There is a potential fifth stage that applies only to work inside organizations. This additional chapter is devoted to applying the Pivot Method within an organization as a way to promote internal mobility.

I strongly encourage anyone thinking of making a pivot to read the book.  Each section has numerous accompanying online resources that include podcasts and downloadable templates and worksheets. I encourage you to take advantage of the worksheets if you are thinking about a career pivot.

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The post How to Pivot and Launch A New Career: A Book Review appeared first on NonClinical Physicians.

My partners and I had started a pension plan and we were making regular contributions. But none of us really knew how we should invest our contributions. I realized that I needed to learn about investing.

I needed to go through a crash course on mutual funds, stocks, bonds and asset allocation. And the Internet did not exist, so there were obviously no blogs like White Coat Investor, Physician on Fire or Future Proof MD to read.

So, what did I do?

Like many medical colleagues who seem to be afflicted with (blessed with?) hypomania and obsessive compulsive disorder, it was time for my first round of post-medical education TOTAL IMMERSION!

I’m sure you have seen this in some of your physician friends, if not yourself. You get into something and it becomes an all-consuming obsession. You need to find and devour every possible resource on a topic – written, audio or video. First, you start with the free and easily available, then move to low-cost, and then high cost, sources of information. I've done this with investing, bluegrass guitar playing, rock-climbing, rollerblading, blogging and other subjects.

For this first obsession resources included:

• Reading articles in Smart Money, Forbes, Fortune, etc.
• Requesting free financial newsletters
• Listening to financial radio personalities like Bob Brinker and Dave Ramsey
• Subscribing to one or two newsletters, like Bob Brinker’s Marketimer and The Kiplinger Letter
• Watching CNBC day and night
• Reading the latest books on investing (too numerous to list – and out of date now!)
• Starting an investment club (see Better Investing)

You get the idea.

So, how does this apply to the physician intrigued by a career in management?

Well, you need to decide if it is really what you want to pursue before spending potentially large dollars and lots of time on it. Unfortunately, there are not as many readily available resources about physician management. But there are a few that should be explored before jumping in.

Let me list what I think are the bests ways to learn about management before investing too much time and money in the effort.

4 Steps to Learning About Management

Let's look at the four steps you can easily take to get a clear understanding whether this might be the right career for you.

1. Reflect on Your Motives

This step has the advantage of being totally free. You should reflect honestly about why you are thinking about beginning this journey.

Is it because you are burnt out, or overwhelmed by your clinical practice? Does the fantasy of sitting in an office, giving instructions to a direct report seem less frustrating and stress-free? Are you thinking that management is a nice pre-retirement way to slow down?

The fact is, you may get just as stressed and burnt out in a management position as a clinical position. There are budget and staff constraints, difficult decisions, accountability for your performance, and more work than the available time. You're paid well, so you must demonstrate a measurable return on investment for your salary. And you must not be timid about terminating underperforming directors and managers on your team.

Are you attracted to management because you wish to help larger groups of patients and work in a team on big projects? Do you enjoy big challenges? Are you comfortable with more uncertainty than the typical physician?

Do you prefer one-on-one interactions with patients? Or do you feel comfortable in front of a group of peers or board members? Do you enjoy working on quality improvement and patient safety? What do you think about confronting your colleagues about unacceptable behavior or questionable clinical practices?

If you are not running from an old career, but embracing a new one, then you are probably on the right track. But there are other careers to consider (such as those discussed in Options for a Non-Clinical Career).

2. Talk to Physician Leaders

If you are acquainted with a chief medical officer, vice president for medical affairs, chief quality officer or someone in a similar position, ask them to sit down over coffee and answer a few questions. Ask them how and why they went into management. What were the barriers to entry? Where did they learn about management and leadership?

This is also one of the best ways to find a mentor. Talk with several such persons. And make it a point to follow-up with them several months later. You don’t need to ask them to “be your mentor.” That can be scary to a leader. It feels like they need to commit to a formal role with a major time commitment. But just getting together to talk about management issues and career choices three or four times a year is not so threatening.

3. Read Everything You Can About Physician Leadership

You can scour the Internet for articles using Google Alerts. Look for articles that include keywords like physician executive, leader, administrator and manager.

You can pick up books like Growing Physician Leaders: Empowering Doctors to Improve Our Healthcare, The Six P's of Physician Leadership and Essentials of Medical Management.

4. Join the American Association for Physician Leadership

Here is where an investment will be required. Membership in the AAPL currently runs $295.00 per year. This is well below the annual cost for many professional societies. But it is a small investment given the resources that are available to members. (I have no financial incentive to recommend membership, but I have been a member for about 23 years).

Joining the organization will jumpstart the other three steps, because membership includes access to a journal, books, a job board, and online educational materials. There are several live conferences each year where networking can occur and mentorships can be developed.

I believe it is helpful to join even if you have not made a personal commitment to seek a management position, because the available resources will help to inspire you, and to decide whether to proceed or not.

Start the process outlined above and see if a management career is right for you.

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The post 4 Crucial Steps to Take Before Choosing a Management Career appeared first on NonClinical Physicians.

It seems that more physician leaders have an MBA, MHA, MMM or MPH (an MPH is not actually a business degree, but a significant number of physician executives seem to have one). A business or management degree is definitely not a requirement for a career as a physician executive. There are many very successful physicians, including numerous CEOs, working in hospitals, insurance companies, medical groups and not-for-profit organizations.

If you have not already graduated from one of the 65 joint MD/MBA programs (referenced here) then you will likely consider obtaining it or a similar degree after completing residency. Pursuing such a degree is a big commitment. The costs will run into the tens of thousands of dollars. It will require thousands of hours of study and preparation, and up to a three-year commitment to complete.

I believe it should seriously be considered, however. Here are four reasons to pursue such a degree.

1. Demonstrate Your Commitment

This is may be the least important reason to pursue a degree. But when making a shift to a new career, it is sometimes necessary to demonstrate that it is not a passing whim.

This is especially true if you are trying to obtain an administrative position at your home hospital, or in your home town at a new organization. Your peers may need evidence that your interests and skills have evolved in order to take you seriously.

2. Differentiate Yourself

You may have taken a leadership role and handled several projects. You demonstrated your ability to lead and manage. Now you are interviewing for a position as a full-time administrator. You may well find yourself competing with several other qualified candidates.

All things being equal (experience, expertise, communication skills, etc.), the candidate with the degree is more likely to be hired.

3. A Business Degree May Be Required

Sometimes the employer will often not mention any degree requirements beyond the medical degree and board certification. Many employers will list a preference for candidates with a master's degree in business or healthcare administration.

Although still uncommon, some larger systems require applicants to have that management degree. And, I have even seen a few postings list a CPE (Certified Physician Executive) as a preferred qualification.

4. Different Perspective and Enhanced Skills

This is really the most important issue. Sure, you may have participated in educational offerings (through specialty societies, the American Association for Physician Leadership, the Advisory Board, the American Hospital Association, or the American College of Healthcare Executives, etc.).

But participation and immersion in a management degree program will provide:

• more depth of study,
• ongoing exposure to faculty,
• development of problem solving and project planning skills, and
• more practice working in teams.

I have witnessed a transformation in colleagues who have completed a business degree. They have better mastery of the business aspects of healthcare. They are better managers and leaders. And they display more confidence, in general.

Additional Resources

As I was finishing up my research on this topic, I came a cross a very insightful blog post by Dr. Paul E. Shannon at “beyondclinical's Blog”. In addition to the author's thoughts, there are several interesting comments that you may find thought-provoking.

I am very interested in your experience with this issue.

• Have you completed a degree program during your quest to move from a clinical into an administrative career?
• Has it been worthwhile?
• I am thinking of putting together a list of MBA, MHA and MMM programs – would that be of use to you?

Comment below or email me at john.jurica.md@gmail.com.

The post Physician Leaders: Four Reasons to Seek a Business Degree appeared first on NonClinical Physicians.

But I was drawn to leadership opportunities. At our program, the chief resident was elected by the other residents. I “ran” for the position against one of my good friends in a low-key, respectful race.

I was very pleased when the residency director announced that I had been elected to the position!

I enjoyed attending the meetings with residency leadership, contributing the residents’ perspective to important conversations. I took on additional work planning events. I updated manuals and created a more comprehensive list of elective rotations available to the residents.

I had no inkling that these pursuits would be repeated later in my career. At the end of my residency, my only concern was to find a good position with a small independent family medicine group. I wanted to continue to hone my medical skills and practice family medicine, including obstetrics. I did not give any thought to being involved with management or leadership.

Eight years later, I started a process that would lead me to a full-time non-clinical position as a hospital executive. Physicians are being drawn to non-clinical careers for a variety of reasons. Some are disenchanted by long hours, declining insurance payments, greater paperwork burden, and burnout. Others find that clinical medicine is not as exciting or fulfilling as expected and are interested in work that is more entrepreneurial, innovative, flexible or challenging.

This has resulted in an explosion of physicians seeking part-time or full-time non-clinical careers. And it is not always easy to decide which potential job will be the most rewarding.

I’d like to describe why I chose a career as a hospital executive, and the pros and cons you may want to consider as you explore new career options.

Five Factors for the Potential Hospital Executive to Consider

I briefly contemplated moving into several non-clinical areas. One of my colleagues was doing chart reviews for an insurance company. Another had begun doing surveys for the Joint Commission. Consulting seemed to be exciting, but I worried about all of the travel that might be required. And I had read about other jobs like medical writing or working as an expert witness.

All of these options are legitimate, respectable jobs.  I listed other options in a previous post (Options for a Non-Clinical Career).

But there are several factors that drew me to a career as a hospital physician executive.

Leverage and Impact

I enjoy providing medical care to patients, addressing their fears and concerns, watching them respond to treatment and sensing their gratitude. But it often seemed so incremental. And with some patients, care was almost trivial – treating the common cold, minor injuries, insignificant infections, and the worried well.

I became very interested in helping groups of patients with illnesses where reductions in mortality or complications could be achieved. Working as a hospital executive provides that kind of impact because of leverage.

The leverage involves leading teams, engaging staff and physicians, developing protocols and implementing best practices. Effectively leading and managing can produce big improvements in outcomes.

Quality of Life

Physician executives are busy. But, we generally have better control of our schedule. Vacations can be taken without the need to find coverage for patients.

Staffing is handled by the HR department. The stress of malpractice is gone. Continuous learning is necessary, just as in clinical medicine, but it is easier to find time to attend educational conferences.

Financial

This career as a hospital executive has a good chance to maintain or improve income, especially for primary care physicians. As an experienced and valued vice president or chief medical officer, it should not be difficult to achieve salary and benefit levels that easily exceed the income of the average family physician, pediatrician or psychiatrist. The same may not be true for a busy cardiologist or surgeon.

Growth

Once in an administrative position, there is still opportunity to grow.  New challenges occur daily and opportunities often arise, moving into the chief operating officer (COO) position, for example. Also, many of us make a lateral move to the same position, but in a larger hospital or health system.

And there are more opportunities for the physician executive to fill the CEO role as well. Such opportunities for growth don't often arise in many of the other non-clinical jobs.

Some of us shift into a different type of healthcare organization, like a large medical group or an insurance company. This is not something the chart reviewer or writer has as an option.

Stability

My research indicated to me that there was a new trend in hiring physician executives when I initially began my transition. I was the first VPMA and CMO at my hospital.The number of hospital CEOs continues to grow.

It seemed a fairly safe choice to make when I started, and it continues to be an area of growth and continuing demand.

Final Decision

A decision to move into one of these areas is not set in stone. Try different activities. See what you really enjoy doing. But if you're like me, and are looking for a career that offers an ability to impact patients, improve your quality of life, enjoy financial stability job security, and growth, a career as a physician executive is worth considering.

What are the other factors should be considered?

The post Five Reasons to Become a Hospital Executive appeared first on NonClinical Physicians.

You've done some soul-searching. You're thinking about a non-clinical career choice. You've tried to address overwhelm and burnout, perhaps utilizing resources such as:

• Dike Drummond at The Happy MD
• American Academy of Family Physicians
• Physicians Helping Physicians
• Starla Fitch at Starla Fitch, MD
• Heather Fork at Doctor's Crossing

You've come to the conclusion that you want to remain in healthcare, but not in direct patient care. What are your options?

There are numerous alternatives for physicians like us seeking a non-clinical career. We don't have to abandon our calling to serve patients. We can still apply much of our knowledge and experience in a meaningful way that still challenge and excite us.

A Sampling of Options

Here are just a few of the careers you might consider exploring:

• Hospital Administration. I have outlined my path in Part 1 of this discussion and in my About page. For me it was a natural transition. It had the advantage of allowing me to remain in my community because I became an executive at a hospital where I was already practicing. Knowing the medical staff and community physicians was an advantage. The disadvantage was the challenge of overcoming the familiarity that can undermine the authority an outsider might enjoy.
• Physician Adviser/Utilization Review. All hospitals need assistance in complying with Medicare regulations and avoiding penalties through Recovery Audit Contractors. This is usually a part-time role. Sometimes it can be combined with assisting with a clinical documentation program. Working at multiple hospitals could create a full-time job. Or these skills could be used in a company that assists hospitals, like Executive Health Resources and others.
• Utilization Review for Insurers. When costly tests are ordered, there is often the need for pre-authorization. This process is usually started with a review by a nurse. A physician advisor is generally the second level of review. Sometimes there are retrospective reviews to confirm medical necessity for hospital admission. This is a job that requires training by the insurer. But it can be started part-time and then expanded. It also a job that can be done from home.
• Management Consulting. If you are willing to travel regularly, consulting may be a viable option. Healthcare consulting firms have specific roles for physicians. Some of the larger consulting firms include the Advisory Board Company, Health Advances, LLC, Huron Consulting and Navigant.
• Pharmaceutical Jobs. There are numerous jobs in the pharmaceutical industry, from marketing and sales, to research. Although a little dated (2012) this article provides a good starting point for those wishing to consider a career in this domain: Pharmaceutical Industry Jobs for Doctors.
• 
• Writer/Author. This category can include writing for websites and blogs, working as a freelance writer for various journals and magazines, or writing for a CME provider that needs “enduring materials” (written educational content rather than live content). This is an option that can be started part-time.
• Many More. Other options include: teaching science classes to high school or college level students, starting your own company (consulting, coaching, recruiting, medical informatics, etc.), or working as a not-for-profit manager or executive.

And a Couple More Resources…

There are a couple of more resources that look very useful for those considering a new career. The first is a blog written by Joseph Kim, MD, MPH, MBA named NonClinicalJobs.com.

The second is a company (SEAK, Inc.) that produces an annual conference called Non-Clinical Careers for Physicians. The conferences have generally been held in Chicago in October. More information can be obtained by checking out this link: NonClinicalCareers.com.  In addition to its annual conference, SEAK also produces live training seminars, DVD training and books that address specific non-clinical careers.

Are you aware of other resources? If so, tell me about them in the comments below!

The post Options for a Non-Clinical Career appeared first on NonClinical Physicians.