There are pros and cons of flying solo when it comes to working in the physician service sector.

On one hand, private practice physicians are given much more freedom than hospital-employed physicians, however managing the business-side of the private practice often takes away time away from providing patient care.

“Becker’s Hospital Review” published a healthcare story last week, titled, “4 Best Practices for Supporting Employed Physicians’ Independence.”

Four key initiatives were listed as actions that hospitals can take to allow hospital physicians as well as outsourced physicians to maintain their independence.

The factors are: building a partnership; establishing shared governance; aligning goals; and making physicians’ role part of hospital culture.

“Physicians seek employment for a number of reasons, but they are, generally, educated and professionally socialized with an expectation of a high degree of professional autonomy,” said Bryan Warren, manager of Select International’s Healthcare Solutions division (on best practice ‘building a partnership’). “So, while they may in fact be an employee, they don’t always think of themselves as a traditional employee.

“Accordingly, providing physicians with some level of control over their situation and a sense of autonomy will improve career satisfaction and retention. If you can engage them in a meaningful way, you are far more likely to see higher levels of efficiency, productivity and patient outcomes.”