With the medical industry already seeing pieces of the healthcare overhaul being implemented, hospitals and physicians are being forced to make quick decisions.

Lowering costs, preparing for compensation models (that benefit collaboration), and improving patient care, are some top target areas for hospitals.

Physician-hospital alignment is key for hospitals to achieve the aforementioned goals, as reported by last week’s issue of Becker’s Hospital Review.

That being said, it is easy to understand the growing trend of hospitals rapidly recruiting for physician services positions.

Kenneth Cohn, MD, wrote, “Getting It Done,” a book in which he identifies seven struggles that hospitals face, in terms of physician alignment efforts.

According to Dr. Cohn, the following hurdles often cost hospitals excellent physician candidates:

1. Physician mentors are under-utilized.

2. Employment may not be enough to spur engagement: “Physicians are a bit like tenured professors,” Dr. Cohen said. “I’ve heard a number of deans say that just because you pay somebody doesn’t mean they put you at the top of their list.”

3. Physicians come to meetings as figureheads, not participants.

4. Physicians and administrators treat problem-solving differently.

5. Definition of “long-term” varies.

6. Hospitals may not make expectations clear up-front.

7. Physicians are trained to be individualists: “I think the most glaring reason it’s so difficult to align is the way we’re all trained,” Dr. Cohn said. “Physicians have very different backgrounds and training and experience, and we tend to personalize our differences.”

Such road blocks might seem unavoidable, but Dr. Cohen claims that integration is absolutely achievable. Hospital administrators should keep in mind that with knowledge comes power.

Often, the physician candidate who is considering various physician employment opportunities, during the interview process, is silently critiquing his hospital recruiters just as seriously hospital recruiters critique him.