The medical director in a community hospital: a perspective.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Administrative Personnel↗
Biomedical subjects
R E Cohn
Publications and source records attributed to R E Cohn.
The medical director--the untapped potential of the position.
The increasing complexities of hospitals and their relationships with their medical staffs require a complete examination of the environment to reveal ways to enhance hospital outcomes. A properly trained and empowered medical director can be the missing link that ensures the continuity and coordination necessary for the best possible outcomes in patient care, economic survival and growth, or simply a more collegial work atmosphere. The medical director can assume vital responsibilities with physicians, policymakers, and departments and other hospital areas to enable an institution and its medical staff to carry out their mission in an increasingly difficult and hostile environment.
Governing Board↗
The evolution of the hospital medical director: a historical perspective.
Numerous articles have been written regarding the concept of the Medical Director, especially in the community hospital. Extensive research of the topic yielded little information in a readily available form as to the substantive, historical sequence that led us to the present concept. The material herein represents an overview of my perspective on how we got here and is presented as a based upon which further review may be undertaken by those interested in such endeavors.
History, 19th Century↗
Hospital management's linchpin: the medical director.
The practice of medicine has become increasingly complex in this era of diagnosis-related groups (DRGs) and other direct government involvement in health care; complex and seemingly inappropriate legal decisions; liability chaos; and increasing competition from peers, entrepreneurs, and other health care organizations. In this new environment, an old player, the medical director (vice president of medical affairs) has been given new visibility and increased responsibilities to help physicians live with and overcome these environmental factors. In showing how the medical director can be of assistance in putting these factors into perspective, it is helpful to take a look at some aspects of the history of medicine, analyze the education process for physicians, point out where the profession began to be driven off course, and identify some of the overall problems of the profession and of the health care field. It is my intent here to project the position of medical director as a vital, frequently missing, link in the attempt to maximize communications, understanding, and achievement in health care organizations.
Leadership↗