Ask the expert: What benefit does a "kitchen cabinet" serve?

Some hospital CEOs have hand-picked a group of physicians to form their own "kitchen cabinet." CEOs may choose physicians who admit a large number of patients to the hospital, informal opinion leaders, senior medical staff members, entrepreneurial drivers, etc. They may also invite board members or other senior executives to kitchen cabinet meetings, and the chief of staff and other officers may participate to ensure that the medical staff's elected leaders are part of the process. During a kitchen cabinet meeting:

• The CEO may float new ideas to get feedback
• Members can discuss hot-button issues and help develop strategies to address them before they escalate
• The group may generate business ideas
• The CEO can learn from members what is really happening within the medical staff and what is really on physician's minds
• Members can perform a downstream analysis of a potentially inflammatory decision facing management, such as changing out an exclusively contracted group

This week's question and answer are excerpted from The Greeley Guide to New Medical Staff Models by Richard A. Sheff, MD, CMSL and William K. Cors, MD, MMM, FACPE, CMSL.