“Improving Physician-hospital Alignment:
Key Drivers and Essential Attributes,”
a 2008 whitepaper published by
the healthcare-industry solutions
provider HealthStream, Inc., examined
drivers for physician satisfaction and
found two of the top five to be active
communication and collaborative
decision-making. Coaching is playing
a more active role in the healthcare
environment as it demonstrates its
impact on sustainable behavior change
for key leaders and teams.
haveseen/Shutterstock.com
This article uses a case example to
illustrate how coaching can develop
physician leaders and improve
communication across disciplines. It
also provides a framework for using
coaching within the healthcare setting.
The Communication Cure
Joy Goldman,
RN, MS, PCC
Joy is an Executive Coach
and credentialed physician
development coach with more
than 30 years’ experience
working in healthcare. She
partners with physicians
and other healthcare leaders
to create transformational
change and improve
healthcare delivery and
service. She is president of
Viewfinder Coaching &
Consulting and serves on ICF
Maryland’s board of directors.
Communication within
healthcare has received a great
deal of attention since the
publication of the Institute of
Medicine’s landmark 1999 report,
“To Err is Human: Building a
Safer Health System,” which
documented that between
44,000 and 98,000 patients die
each year due to medical errors.
Efforts aimed at improving
communication among patientcare professionals have included
interventions, such as daily
huddles and the use of a script
to enhance communication
between physicians and nurses.
Poor communication was found
to be the greatest contributor to
medical errors.
The Physician
Dr. F. is the vice president of quality
at a large, suburban hospital system.
He practiced surgery when he was in
the military and has a long hi