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Physicians in leadership: the association between medical director involvement and staff-to-patient ratios

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Abstract

In a hospital environment that demands a careful balance between commercial and clinical interests, the extent to which physicians are involved in hospital leadership varies greatly. This paper assesses the influence of the extent of this involvement on staff-to-patient ratios. Using data gathered from 604 hospitals across Germany, this study evidences the positive relationship between a full-time medical director (MD) or heavily involved part-time MD and a higher staff-to-patient ratio. The data allows us to control for a range of confounding variables, such as size, rural/urban location, ownership structure, and case-mix. The results contribute to the sparse body of empirical research on the effect of clinical leadership on organizational outcomes.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Christoph Eunicke from Steria Mummert Consulting AG for retrieving the data from xml files, Roman Mennicken for his support in the data management, and Sandra Sülz for typesetting and proof-reading. We also thank colleagues at the Judge Business School for comments and suggestions on prior versions of this paper. We would like to thank three referees for very helpful comments and suggestions which helped us to improve the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Business Administration and Health Care Management, University of Cologne, Albertus-Magnus-Platz, 50923, Köln, Germany

    Ludwig Kuntz

  2. Judge Business School, University of Cambridge, Trumpington Street, Cambridge, CB2 1AG, UK

    Stefan Scholtes

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  1. Ludwig Kuntz
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  2. Stefan Scholtes
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Correspondence to Ludwig Kuntz.

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Kuntz, L., Scholtes, S. Physicians in leadership: the association between medical director involvement and staff-to-patient ratios. Health Care Manag Sci 16, 129–138 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10729-012-9218-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10729-012-9218-7

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