How Leaders at High-Performing Healthcare Organizations Think About Organizational Professionalism

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Management
• Organizational Behavior
• Medical Ethics

Background:

• High-performing healthcare organizations require robust ethical frameworks.
• Organizational Professionalism (OP) is an emerging concept in healthcare leadership.
• Existing research lacks formal exploration of OP in practice.

Purpose of the Study:

• To formally explore the concept of Organizational Professionalism (OP) among health system leaders.
• To understand the conceptualization, operationalization, and measurement of OP.
• To identify how OP contributes to ethical organizational cultures and patient care.

Main Methods:

• Pilot study utilizing semi-structured key informant interviews.
• Interviewed 23 leaders from 8 high-performing healthcare organizations.
• Organizations were recipients of Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award (MBNQA) or state quality awards.

Main Results:

• Identified key themes in leaders' conceptualization of OP.
• Explored practical methods for operationalizing and measuring OP within healthcare settings.
• Highlighted the link between OP and the implementation of quality improvement initiatives.

Conclusions:

• Organizational Professionalism (OP) is a critical factor in high-performing healthcare organizations.
• Further research into OP can foster professional and ethical organizational cultures.
• OP supports the implementation of policies and procedures for high-quality patient care and trust.