Strengths and Weaknesses of Physician Executives in Healthcare Administration

OBJECTIVE
To identify and evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of physician executives within healthcare administration

METHODOLOGY
The Leadership Practices Inventory and a brief questionnaire were distributed to five physicians and five administrators employed or affiliated with the Fort Sanders Health System via mail by a neutral third party. Four participants in each category participated, each distributing in turn at least four copies of the LPI-Observer data.

KEY FINDINGS
Administrators rated themselves higher than physicians in four of the five leadership practices categories: Challenging, Inspiring, Enabling and Modeling. Physicians rated themselves higher than administrators for Encouraging. LPI-Observer scores were higher for administrators than physicians in the four practices of Challenging, Inspiring, Modeling and Encouraging.

The author concludes: "Based on survey results, administrators seem to feel more comfortable with their leadership skills. They know what skills are important in the current healthcare environment and feel that they possess the majority of those skills. Physicians, on the other hand, do not seem as confident in their leadership abilities. Although 'observers' scored both groups well, administrators seem to adapt more easily to their roles as leaders" (p. 58).