Skip to content
  • About
  • Contact
  • Contribute
  • Book
  • Careers
  • Podcast
  • Recommended
  • Speaking
  • All
  • Physician
  • Practice
  • Policy
  • Finance
  • Conditions
  • .edu
  • Patient
  • Meds
  • Tech
  • Social
  • Video
    • All
    • Physician
    • Practice
    • Policy
    • Finance
    • Conditions
    • .edu
    • Patient
    • Meds
    • Tech
    • Social
    • Video
    • About
    • Contact
    • Contribute
    • Book
    • Careers
    • Podcast
    • Recommended
    • Speaking

The joylessness of harried medical leaders

Steve Adelman, MD
Physician
July 1, 2021
277 Shares
Share
Tweet
Share

How sad when a PCP calls, saying, “My chief warned me that if I don’t dramatically improve my productivity, I’m going to be terminated.”  Such doctors are often patient-centered listeners who cannot bear to shift from healer mode to assembly line mode.

Some of these docs learn how to better balance healing with task completion; others make a beeline for concierge or direct primary care practices; still others leave clinical medicine altogether.

But my primary focus today is not on the beleaguered front-line PCP; it is on the harried medical leader, whose job is to translate industrialized medicine’s quest for corporate profitability into performance metrics of efficiency, quality, and patient experience.

Medical leaders are often, in effect, middle managers.  Many of us (yes, I myself was one for thirteen years) took on a managerial role with the following questionable assumptions:

  • That our ability to effectively manage patients meant that we could be equally successful at managing physicians and other professionals.
  • That because we were intelligent, we would be good on-the-job learners as neophyte managers.
  • That our commitment to the profession and to caring for patients would translate into aptitude for balancing corporate and patient priorities with the human needs of our team members.
  • That allocating 10 percent to 50 percentof our time to managing others would relieve our own stress as full-time clinicians.

A sad truth is this: Most everywhere, health care is a low-margin industry that lacks resources to invest in leadership development. Although our business’s central, sacred function is caring for our fellow human beings, many who move up in the health care hierarchy do so without possessing the so-called “soft skills” that facilitate one’s ability to lead groups and motivate others.

“Soft skills,” a military term that arose in the 1960s, refers to the interpersonal savvy that it takes for organizational stakeholders to succeed.  Soft skills are about more than the weaponry and the machinery; they’re about the people.  Whether it’s academic medicine, corporate medicine, or public sector medicine, we are simply not taking enough time to focus our leaders’ attention on the interpersonal dimension of their work.  Excellent training and supervision enhance essential managerial skills, but most health care organizations choose not to invest in that which is “soft.”

Consequently, so-called performance problems of physicians, like the PCP I described above, sometimes end up being addressed with last-minute ultimatums and referrals at the eleventh hour.  We are all saddened that our system’s manifold challenges persist, only to be aggravated by crises like the pandemic.  It isn’t surprising that many members of the public are losing faith in the health care industry and the medical profession.

Steve Adelman is a psychiatrist and can be reached at his self-titled site, AdelMED.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com

Prev

Mentors, thank you for parenting me

July 1, 2021 Kevin 0
…
Next

Redefining what a hospital library should be

July 1, 2021 Kevin 0
…

Tagged as: Practice Management

Post navigation

< Previous Post
Mentors, thank you for parenting me
Next Post >
Redefining what a hospital library should be

More by Steve Adelman, MD

  • Should all health professionals be teetotalers?

    Steve Adelman, MD
  • The horror of darkened hearts

    Steve Adelman, MD
  • I’m covering the practice of a “Dr. Feel Good”

    Steve Adelman, MD

Related Posts

  • Digital advances in the medical aid in dying movement

    Jennifer Lynn
  • Does medical school train students to become managers or leaders?

    Maria Yang, MD
  • How the COVID-19 pandemic highlights the need for social media training in medical education 

    Oscar Chen, Sera Choi, and Clara Seong
  • A medical student’s physician inspiration

    Uju Momah
  • Why this physician teaches first-year medical students 

    Mark Kelley, MD
  • When physician leaders get acquired and squeezed

    Anonymous

More in Physician

  • The hidden gems of health care: Unlocking the potential of narrative medicine

    Dr. Najat Fadlallah
  • The dark side of immortality: What if we could live forever?

    Ketan Desai, MD, PhD
  • It’s time for C-suite to contract directly with physicians for part-time work

    Aaron Morgenstein, MD & Corinne Sundar Rao, MD
  • From rural communities to underserved populations: How telemedicine is bridging health care gaps

    Harvey Castro, MD, MBA
  • From solidarity to co-liberation: Understanding the journey towards ending oppression

    Maiysha Clairborne, MD
  • Finding peace through surrender: a personal exploration

    Dympna Weil, MD
  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • The real cause of America’s opioid crisis: Doctors are not to blame

      Richard A. Lawhern, PhD | Meds
    • Nobody wants this job. Should physicians stick around?

      Katie Klingberg, MD | Physician
    • Healing the damaged nurse-physician dynamic

      Angel J. Mena, MD and Ali Morin, MSN, RN | Policy
    • The struggle to fill emergency medicine residency spots: Exploring the factors behind the unfilled match

      Katrina Gipson, MD, MPH | Physician
    • Deaths of despair: an urgent call for a collective response to the crisis in U.S. life expectancy

      Mohammed Umer Waris, MD | Policy
    • Breaking the stigma: Addressing the struggles of physicians

      Jean Antonucci, MD | Physician
  • Past 6 Months

    • The hidden dangers of the Nebraska Heartbeat Act

      Meghan Sheehan, MD | Policy
    • The real cause of America’s opioid crisis: Doctors are not to blame

      Richard A. Lawhern, PhD | Meds
    • The vital importance of climate change education in medical schools

      Helen Kim, MD | Policy
    • The fight for reproductive health: Why medication abortion matters

      Catherine Hennessey, MD | Physician
    • Nobody wants this job. Should physicians stick around?

      Katie Klingberg, MD | Physician
    • Resetting the doctor-patient relationship: Navigating the challenges of modern primary care

      Jeffrey H. Millstein, MD | Physician
  • Recent Posts

    • Why it’s time to question medical traditions [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • The hidden gems of health care: Unlocking the potential of narrative medicine

      Dr. Najat Fadlallah | Physician
    • The realities of immigrant health care served hot from America’s melting pot

      Stella Cho | Policy
    • The dark side of immortality: What if we could live forever?

      Ketan Desai, MD, PhD | Physician
    • Lazarus: the dead man brought back to life

      William Lynes, MD | Conditions
    • Revolutionizing COPD management with virtual care solutions [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast

Subscribe to KevinMD and never miss a story!

Get free updates delivered free to your inbox.


Find jobs at
Careers by KevinMD.com

Search thousands of physician, PA, NP, and CRNA jobs now.

Learn more

View 5 Comments >

Founded in 2004 by Kevin Pho, MD, KevinMD.com is the web’s leading platform where physicians, advanced practitioners, nurses, medical students, and patients share their insight and tell their stories.

Social

  • Like on Facebook
  • Follow on Twitter
  • Connect on Linkedin
  • Subscribe on Youtube
  • Instagram

CME Spotlights

From MedPage Today

Latest News

  • Clinical Note Writing App Powered by GPT-4 Set to Debut This Year
  • Helping Patients Get Fit -- One Walk at a Time
  • TB Cases Rebound to Near Pre-Pandemic Levels, CDC Data Show
  • Marginalized Groups May Benefit More From Decreasing Air Pollution
  • Pitolisant Safe and Effective in Children With Narcolepsy

Meeting Coverage

  • Switch to IL-23 Blocker Yields Deep Responses in Recalcitrant Plaque Psoriasis
  • Biomarkers of Response With Enfortumab Vedotin in Advanced Urothelial Cancer
  • At-Home Topical Therapy for Molluscum Contagiosum Gets High Marks
  • Outlook for Itchy Prurigo Nodularis Continues to Improve With IL-31 Antagonist
  • AAAAI President Shares Highlights From the 2023 Meeting
  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • The real cause of America’s opioid crisis: Doctors are not to blame

      Richard A. Lawhern, PhD | Meds
    • Nobody wants this job. Should physicians stick around?

      Katie Klingberg, MD | Physician
    • Healing the damaged nurse-physician dynamic

      Angel J. Mena, MD and Ali Morin, MSN, RN | Policy
    • The struggle to fill emergency medicine residency spots: Exploring the factors behind the unfilled match

      Katrina Gipson, MD, MPH | Physician
    • Deaths of despair: an urgent call for a collective response to the crisis in U.S. life expectancy

      Mohammed Umer Waris, MD | Policy
    • Breaking the stigma: Addressing the struggles of physicians

      Jean Antonucci, MD | Physician
  • Past 6 Months

    • The hidden dangers of the Nebraska Heartbeat Act

      Meghan Sheehan, MD | Policy
    • The real cause of America’s opioid crisis: Doctors are not to blame

      Richard A. Lawhern, PhD | Meds
    • The vital importance of climate change education in medical schools

      Helen Kim, MD | Policy
    • The fight for reproductive health: Why medication abortion matters

      Catherine Hennessey, MD | Physician
    • Nobody wants this job. Should physicians stick around?

      Katie Klingberg, MD | Physician
    • Resetting the doctor-patient relationship: Navigating the challenges of modern primary care

      Jeffrey H. Millstein, MD | Physician
  • Recent Posts

    • Why it’s time to question medical traditions [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • The hidden gems of health care: Unlocking the potential of narrative medicine

      Dr. Najat Fadlallah | Physician
    • The realities of immigrant health care served hot from America’s melting pot

      Stella Cho | Policy
    • The dark side of immortality: What if we could live forever?

      Ketan Desai, MD, PhD | Physician
    • Lazarus: the dead man brought back to life

      William Lynes, MD | Conditions
    • Revolutionizing COPD management with virtual care solutions [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast

MedPage Today Professional

An Everyday Health Property Medpage Today iMedicalApps
  • Terms of Use | Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy
  • DMCA Policy
All Content © KevinMD, LLC
Site by Outthink Group

The joylessness of harried medical leaders
5 comments

Comments are moderated before they are published. Please read the comment policy.

Loading Comments...