MDs and MBAs

If you think the tension between managers and medical staff is something unique to healthcare in the United States, this recent BusinessWeek article might provide small consolation. It cites a case in Australia, where a coroner’s investigation into the 2013 suicide of a 15-year-old girl suggested “medical mismanagement” was a factor in her death. In response, a group of psychiatrists protested the lack of a physician-led governance structure in the hospital system, and a physicians’ group sent a letter to the government demanding that the system in question incorporate more psychiatrists in its leadership and throughout its ranks.

The medical staff services department is the nexus of patient care, regulation, and management—and can be a site where the “MD vs. MBA” tension plays out. However, as the article points out, making hospitals run well for patients isn’t as simple as kicking out the MBAs. Most agree that managers bring a crucial set of skills to healthcare. Healthcare systems need people in the C-suite who can wear both the lab coat and the suit, says one source. They also need to remember that at some point, everyone is a patient.   

Thanks for reading!

Mary Stevens, editor, Credentialing Resource Center Insider