All Physicians are Leaders: Reflections on Inspiring Change Together for Better Healthcare

Book excerpt: COVID-19 is clearly creating significant change in how daily lives are pursued. The impacts on healthcare as an industry are profound and how physicians continue to provide patient care is being challenged. Those in group practices, as well as those within institutional environments, are all now faced with the prospect for how to develop new approaches in their professional pursuits. The changing environment in healthcare provides all physicians with a unique opportunity to develop and implement larger scales of change for the industry, as a result. Dr. Peter Angood is president and CEO of the American Association for Physician Leadership, the only association solely focused on providing professional development, leadership education, and management training exclusively for physicians since its founding in 1975. In that role since 2012, he has continuously promoted the charge that "at some level, all physicians are leaders." The book is a frank dialogue and call to action on how all physicians can reach their fullest potential by becoming and remaining more engaged while inspiring engagement in others. It is also a clear-eyed look at the positive and trusted role physicians exercise in every sector of the healthcare industry. Including chapters on wellness and burnout, patient safety, lifelong learning and the necessary personal and professional competencies for physicians, Dr. Angood's commentaries are uniquely astute and bold. He asserts that physicians remain the most trusted and dominant conduit for care and decision-making within the multidisciplinary sphere of healthcare and, further, with increasing demands for quality care and patient satisfaction, the physician leader is well-positioned and deserves an equitable say in shaping the future of the healthcare industry. "The research shows that the benefit of a physician-led organization is improved patient outcomes and decreased costs," says Dr. Angood. "While academia and basic science research continue to expand the scientific knowledge of medicine at rapid rates, technology, pharmaceuticals, device innovation and digital communication all are redefining their value equation with physicians as leaders in their organizations." This book of personal reflections on healthcare and the state of the industry is precisely that: personal. Dr. Angood's goal is for the various chapters to spur personal reflection among physicians while instilling in them a renewed sense of privilege and commitment to the profession.