Engaging Doctors in the Health Care Revolution

A health care revolution is underway, and doctors must be part of it. But many are deeply anxious and angry about the transformation, fearing loss of autonomy, respect, and income. Given their resistance, how can health system leaders engage them in redesigning care? In this article, Dr. Thomas H. Lee, Press Ganey's chief medical officer, and Dr. Toby Cosgrove, the CEO of the Cleveland Clinic, describe a framework they've developed for encouraging buy-in. Adapting Max Weber's "typology of motives," and applying behavioral economics and other motivational principles, they describe four tactics leadership must apply in concert: (1) Engaging doctors in a noble shared purpose; (2) Addressing their economic self-interest; (3) Leveraging their desire for respect; and (4) Appealing to their sense of tradition. Drawing from experiences at the Mayo Clinic, Geisinger Health System, Partners HealthCare, the Cleveland Clinic, Ascension Health, and others, the authors show how the four motivational levers work together to bring this critical group of stakeholders onboard.