An article in the Harvard Business Review discusses the potential to improve medical outcomes and cut costs by working with specialist physicians as well as with primary-care doctors in moving toward value-based care.
In Boston, the Brigham and Women’s Physicians Organization enlists “Directors of Performance Improvement” (DPIs) from among specialist physicians to work with their peers to improve the value of their services The DPIs first learned about improving value at the organizational level, and then work with fellow physicians to translate those efforts into practical changes to care provision within their departments.
At the same time, the hospital encourages DPIs to enroll in a Harvard Business School leadership program to build their management skills. This two-pronged approach generates a new set of physician leaders focused on value-based care while they remain grounded in day-to-day care provision.
The article notes the careful positioning of its change agents meant to encourage communication up and down the leadership chain. “The culture change and engagement required for success can’t be either top down or bottom up,” said Jeffrey O. Greenberg, M.D., and Jessica Dudley, M.D., the article’s authors. “It must be both.”
