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  • Annals of Surgery

Surgeons and Administrators Co-Creating Value

By: Michael Nurok, Thoralf Sundt, Robert S. Kaplan and Bruce Gewertz
  • Format:Print
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Abstract

Most hospitals have arms-length relationships with physicians, viewing them as people they must ‘‘manage,’’ not as potentially valuable strategic partners. But surgeons make clinical decisions every day that have great influence on both patient outcomes and hospital costs. The separation of the two groups is a consequence of a narrow interpretation of the accountability principle in which physicians are responsible only for their performance in operating rooms and interventional suites, while administrators are responsible only for operations and finances. The paper illustrates how allowing proceduralists to influence both upstream and downstream components of the surgical episode will improve patient outcomes and lower costs, allowing administrators to better match resources to care needs. Such collaboration will be necessary for successful value-based health care delivery.

Keywords

Value-based Health Care; Collaboration; Healthcare Administration; Health Care and Treatment; Management; Strategy; Value Creation

Citation

Nurok, Michael, Thoralf Sundt, Robert S. Kaplan, and Bruce Gewertz. "Surgeons and Administrators Co-Creating Value." Annals of Surgery 274, no. 6 (December 2021).
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About The Author

Robert S. Kaplan

Accounting and Management
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  • We Need Better Carbon Accounting. Here's How to Get There. By: Robert S. Kaplan and Karthik Ramanna
  • A Career Life-Cycle Perspective on Women's Health and Safety By: Robert S. Kaplan, Chizoba L. Chukwura, Gregory H. Gorman, Vivian S. Lee, Chester B. Good, Kathleen L. Martin, Gregory A. Ator and Michael D. Parkinson
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