department chair

July 16, 2020

Posted on by hortyspringer

QUESTION:        Our newly elected Chief of Staff is currently a department chair at our hospital.  She really likes the department chair position and is good at it.  At the same time, she also wants to fulfill the will of the Active Staff members who elected her to serve as the Chief of Staff.  Can she serve both positions at the same time?

ANSWER:            Serving in two leadership roles in the same hospital is not technically a conflict of interest, so unless there is a provision in the medical staff bylaws stating that an individual cannot serve in both roles, there is likely no technical reason that she cannot serve in both positions.  That said, practically speaking, it may not be the best idea.  Department chairs often have significant duties in terms of performing mentoring efforts and collegial counseling sessions with members of their departments in addition to their obligations to reviewing applicants for appointment and reappointment as well as service on the MEC.  In large clinical departments, these responsibilities can be quite intensive.  The Chief of Staff will generally be intimately involved in the active management of the most significant medical staff issues.  Combine those two sets of responsibilities and it is a lot for one person to do, and to do well.  In our experience, when department chairs or division chiefs are elected to serve as either the Vice Chief of Staff or the Chief of Staff, they have typically resigned the department chair/division chief position that they previously held.

August 29, 2019

Posted on by hortyspringer

QUESTION:        Our Credentials Policy says that applicants for Medical Staff appointment and clinical privileges will be interviewed by the department chair, the Credentials Committee, the Medical Executive Committee, the Chief of Staff, the Chief Medical Officer or the Chief Executive Officer.  Is there really any benefit to performing an interview as a part of the credentialing process or should we just eliminate this language from our Policy?

 

ANSWER:            There certainly is some debate about the effectiveness of interviews in predicting future job performance.  However, much of the research indicates that unstructured job interviews are ineffective.  On the other hand, structured interviews are one of the most effective selection techniques.

In structured interviews, applicants are asked to respond to the same set of questions and their answers are rated on a standard scale.  Sounds complicated, right?  Not necessarily.  We understand that the development of a complex, standard scale for rating would involve the participation of experts; however, a common set of straightforward questions that are structured to elicit information about past behavior (as opposed to questions designed to elicit information about how an applicant would respond in a hypothetical situation) and that are relevant to Medical Staff appointment, measured against a simple rating scale, can be useful.  This task shouldn’t be outside of the Credentials Committee’s wheelhouse.

There is always the risk of variability among interviewers, but this could be minimized by having at least two individuals conducting the interview, using the same scale but rating separately, and then comparing notes after the interview to reduce variability in rating.

Like we mentioned earlier, questions about past behavior are key because there is less opportunity for an applicant to provide a response that is not capable of being verified.  Interview questions can also elicit information about whether the applicant’s views and practice style are consistent with the medical staff and hospital’s culture.

For example:

Q:        What attracts you to this hospital/why are you interested in working here?

Q:        Tell us about a time in which a case of yours was reviewed through the peer review process and how you participated/responded.

Q:        Describe a situation in which you were asked to do something beyond your established responsibilities (e.g., service on medical staff committee, fill in a call coverage gap) and tell us how you responded.

Q:        Tell me about a time when you had a conflict with another physician and how you dealt with that conflict.

Q:        What role do you see the nursing staff playing in patient care in the hospital?

If interviewing every applicant simply isn’t an option because of time constraints, interviews should, at the very least, be conducted when there are questions or concerns about the applicant’s qualifications, experience, education, training, or other aspects of his or her practice that have been raised at any time during the review of the application.  Thus, rather than having a strict requirement that all applicants will be interviewed, you can adjust your Policy language to instruct that applicants may be interviewed.

January 31, 2019

Posted on by hortyspringer

QUESTION:        When a concern is raised about the behavior of a Medical Staff member, we’ve typically referred it to our department chairs. The chairs give it their best shot, but we were wondering if there’s a better way?

ANSWER:            Yes! There are many drawbacks to asking a single individual — regardless of who that person is — to deal with difficult behavioral matters.

First, the department chair is often either a competitor or partner of the physician under review. This can make it difficult for the department chair regardless of whether an actual “conflict of interest” exists.

Also, depending on the size of a department, the department chair may not deal with many behavioral concerns. As a result, the chair never obtains enough experience to become truly comfortable addressing behavioral issues.

Individual department chairs have no built-in opportunity to brainstorm about the issues under review. If they want to seek assistance, they have to find another physician leader and bring that person up to speed.

Thus, we recommend that a core group of physician leaders — referred to as a Leadership Council — handle behavioral concerns. The Leadership Council might be comprised of the Chief of Staff, Chair of the Professional Practice Evaluation/Peer Review Committee, and Chief Medical Officer. The advantages of using a Leadership Council to handle behavioral concerns include:

  • consistency across departments (no more variability based on the personality of individual department chairs);
  • easier to avoid conflicts of interest;
  • permits department chairs to preserve their working relationships with physicians under review;
  • expertise through experience;
  • emphasizes the importance of the issue and enhances the credibility of the physician leadership because a group of leaders – not a single person – is speaking with the physician under review; and
  • problems are discussed by a small group, which promotes the exchange and development of ideas.

For more information on Leadership Councils and other important topics, please join us at Disney’s Yacht and Beach Club Resort in Orlando, FL on March 7-9, 2019 for The Peer Review Clinic.

November 2, 2017

Posted on by hortyspringer

QUESTION:        We have several clinical departments that have either weak chairs or chairs who are there entirely by “default.” These individuals are relied upon to perform a really important role.  How can we get stronger leaders interested?

ANSWER:            In many hospitals, it has been traditional to rotate the department chair position so that everyone gets his or her turn.  However, not every physician, quite frankly, has an aptitude for, or interest in, medical staff leadership.

One answer might be to develop stronger qualifications for serving in medical staff leadership roles, including officers and department chairs, and to provide for compensation for department chairs.  Another question to ask is if there are too many departments.  Consider consolidating departments.  By having fewer positions to fill, you then have a larger pool of qualified people who want to serve.

Finally, many hospitals are facing this very issue and are tackling it head on by incorporating an affirmative “succession development” process.  In these facilities, a small core group of medical staff leaders has an ongoing responsibility for identifying individuals who seem to show an aptitude for leadership and cultivating those skills – beginning with committee appointments and then moving them forward in the leadership track.

 

September 1, 2016

Posted on by hortyspringer

QUESTION:         We have several clinical departments that have either weak chairs or chairs who are there entirely by “default.” These individuals are relied upon to perform a really important role. How can we get stronger leaders interested?

ANSWER:             In many hospitals, it has been traditional to rotate the department chairmanship so that everyone gets his or her turn. However, not every physician, quite frankly, has an aptitude for, or interest in, medical staff leadership. One answer might be to develop stronger qualifications for serving in medical staff leadership roles, including officers and departmental chairs, and to provide for compensation for department chairs. Another question to ask is if there are too many departments. Consider consolidating departments. By having fewer positions to fill, you then have a larger pool of qualified people who want to serve.

That said, one of the biggest changes that we have seen in medical staff leadership in the recent past (and one which we now recommend strongly!) is to eliminate the use of “ad hoc” nomination committees for identifying medical staff leaders – whether they be officers, department chairs, or committee chairs – and the movement toward a standing committee dedicated to leadership development and succession planning that meets throughout the year.  Having a standing committee in place allows the leadership to take a more comprehensive look at the medical staff, identifying new members who might make good leaders in the future – giving them time for training, education, and development.