Physician Leadership-What should We Expect?

Kevin Pho MD in his blog KevinMD has a guest post by Stephen C. Schimpff, MD who asks “What should we expect of a physician leader today? “

Dr.Schimpff’s bio is very impressive, and perhaps the most interesting feature is that he is now ‘retired’. When I first started to read Dr. Schimpff’s blog post I thought to myself. ‘Who has time to lead, when one is fully engaged in the daily care of patients, administration, meetings, lectures, CME and the business of your medical practice (s)?’ . Very few indeed !

It is not enough for us to talk to ourselves, go to medical society meetings and trump the latest talking point from organized medicine.

Today we have a new means of leadership, the ultimate tool of democracy, a leader in revolutionary thought and a means of aggregating opinion, visible to all. Social Media, whether it is Facebook, Google +, Twitter Tumblr, Stumpleupon, or whatever.

I have a weekly Google + Hangout on Wednesday evenings at 6PM. Frequently there are several MDs, HIT people, and a number of Googlers unrelated to health, but with many questions, and I am asked questions that surprise me. I take for granted everyone knows details of the impending Health Reform. Well, they do not. The questions are good ones, and it is a chance for me to give my own opinion, and knowledge with the filtering of organized medicine.

There is another option for Health Reform, and I have my own special forces team working on the mission.