Physician loyalty is a valuable commodity for today's healthcare organizations. In a very meaningful way, most physicians are more like a hospital's customers than employees. They typically are independent practitioners who have the freedom to choose the facilities to which they lend their expertise. Hospital administrators would agree that attracting and keeping talented physicians is vital to achieving a strong reputation, high levels of patient satisfaction, and sustainable financial health. That requires cultivating physician loyalty.
In an evaluation of physician loyalty results for several hundred hospitals in the Gallup database, Gallup found a direct relationship between high loyalty scores and the facilities' financial performance. Physicians with loyalty scores in the top quartile of the database averaged $152 above the average earnings per adjusted admission (see graph below). Physicians in the bottom quartile of loyalty averaged $167 below average in earnings per adjusted admission.
How does Gallup measure physician loyalty?
Physician satisfaction, like customer satisfaction, is by itself unlikely to predict the health of an organization's bottom line. Gallup's research across industries has shown that the most reliable indicator of success in that regard is engagement, a construct that combines loyalty measures with measures of emotional attachment.
Distilled to its essence, physician loyalty can best be defined as the combination of three measures: 1) a physician's overall satisfaction with a healthcare facility, 2) likelihood to continue using the facility, and 3) likelihood to recommend the facility to other physicians. True loyalty can only be achieved through success on all three dimensions -- when a physician gives the highest possible rating (in Gallup surveys, "5 out of 5" on a five-point scale) on all three indicators.
Key Points
Physicians are being surveyed. Physician-relations managers and departments have been established. Physician-relations training programs have been put in place. Yet all these efforts could be misplaced if they focus exclusively on satisfaction measures.
Why? Thus far, measurement has concentrated on tactical, operations-based issues -- satisfaction with the radiology department, satisfaction with bed availability, and so on. Failure to perform adequately in these areas can dissatisfy physicians, but Gallup's research across industries has shown that operational success alone is insufficient to produce loyalty. A more strategic approach is required -- one that recognizes satisfaction as part of the broader and more useful concept of loyalty, and loyalty itself as a key part of the ultimate goal: physician engagement.
Ben Klima contributed to this article.
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