Integrated Leadership for Hospitals and Health Systems

The AHA and the American Medical Association collaborated on this paper to present both physicians and hospital leaders a set of guiding principles for integration. Those six principles are:

Physician and hospital leaders with similar values and expectations aligned financial and non-financial incentives goals aligned across the board with appropriate metrics, shared responsibility for financial, cost and quality targets.

An interdisciplinary structure that supports collaboration in decision-making between physicians and hospital executives. It is important that physicians preserve the clinical autonomy needed for quality patient care while working with others to deliver effective, efficient and appropriate care.

Integrated clinical physician and hospital leadership, including nursing and other clinicians, present at all levels of the integrated health system and participation in all key management decisions.

A collaborative, participatory partnership built on trust. This sense of interdependence and working towards mutual achievement of the Triple Aim is crucial to alignment and engagement. It is important for physicians and hospital leadership to trust in each other's good faith and abilities.

Open and transparent sharing of clinical and business information across the continuum by all parties to improve care.

A clinical information system infrastructure that allows capture and reporting of key clinical quality and efficiency performance data for all participants and accountability across the system to those measures.