In healthcare, things move fast and the stakes are high. If you’re a doctor, your job is to save lives. But if you’re a hospital executive, your job is to make money. How can these two coexist in harmony? Well, it’s tough. On the one hand, there’s a doctor who’s trying to care for their patients, but every major decision is being made by someone else. On the other hand, if you’re a big shot executive, you need to juggle budget, staffing, and regulations and on top of that, your medical team might be uncooperative.
The way out of this chaos? Collaborative leadership. If things are going to work properly, without any side getting frustrated and stressed, the doctor can’t just care for the patients and the executive can’t be the one making all the decisions.
They need to work as a team and make a system that works for everyone, because when it doesn’t, the ones suffering the most are the sick people trying to get help.
How Collaborative Leadership Benefits Everyone in Healthcare
Judging by our healthcare system, it seems like our doctors and executives don’t really work hand in hand because it’s a mess out there. But here’s what would happen if they decided to change things around. (Spoiler – everyone would be happier.)
1. Better Decisions
If the executives are the only ones making decisions, they’ll miss important things pertaining to patient care because they just don’t have enough knowledge about it. But if it’s just the doctors making decisions, they’ll end up blowing through the budget because saving money isn’t at the top of their list of priorities.
When they work together, however, they make smarter choices for everyone. Say the hospital is having problems with people waiting too long in emergency rooms. Doctors, nurses, and administrators can all come up with a solution because together, they have both medical and logistic knowledge.
2. Higher Quality Care
An executive would probably disagree, but the fact is, the hospital is there to care for its patients. End of story. If doctors have a voice in big decisions, treatment plans get better and hospitals can focus more on their patients.
Again, collaborative leadership has a big role here because, if it’s successful, it makes recruitment and retention of doctors easier. This way, we can be sure that platforms like PracticeMatch and, as an extension, our hospitals, attract only the best people based on merit.
Think about it – if you’re a doctor and your workplace is supportive and you feel heard, you’ll do a much better job than if you worked somewhere that made you stressed and unhappy.
3. Happier Staff
Healthcare is riddled with problems, and one of the biggest ones is burnout. Doctors and nurses work long hours under stressful conditions and if the executives ignore them, they can’t help but feel deeply unhappy with their jobs.
The result isn’t just frowning faces, it’s high turnover, which puts even more pressure on those who stay. Collaborative leadership can prevent this. If you include medical professionals in making decisions, it’s easier to find solutions for the staff and improve morale.
4. Using Resources Smarter
If the budget was unlimited, there would be no disconnect between executives and medical staff. Sadly, that’s not the case, so the way a hospital spends their money matters more than you think. If an executive makes all the financial decisions without talking it over with the doctors, they risk investing in expensive equipment that might end up collecting dust.
On the other hand, if doctors don’t understand that the budget is limited (and how it’s limited), they’ll ask for resources that simply aren’t realistic.
The answer? Working together and spending money strategically.
5. Adapting to Changes Faster
Healthcare is always evolving, and that’s how it should be. New treatments are popping up, regulations change, and let’s not forget crises that come out of nowhere, like the COVID-19 pandemic. This is why hospitals need to be flexible.
If you have a rigid executive that’s unwilling to work with the medical staff, the hospital can’t adapt to new changes fast enough. But when executives work with doctors, they’re able to respond to new challenges on time and effectively. When there’s more than one perspective at the decision-making table, hospitals and clinics are more resilient and prepared for what’s coming. Two (or more!) heads are better than one.
Conclusion
No man is an island and there’s no organization, company, or what have you, that can thrive if there’s one single person making all important decisions. That’s especially true for medical facilities.
Teamwork results in better decisions, businesses that run smoothly, happier staff and patients, and being more prepared for whatever the future throws your way. Without teamwork… Let’s just say it’s the opposite. Nobody wins in the long run.
