Date of Conferral
2021
Degree
Doctor of Business Administration (D.B.A.)
School
Business Administration
Advisor
Warren Lesser
Abstract
During a time of increasing physician shortages, health care leaders must identify successful physician retention strategies. Health care leaders are concerned with physician retention, as a lack of physicians minimizes patient access to care. Grounded in the stakeholder theory, the purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to explore strategies health care leaders in small military treatment facilities in rural areas use to improve physician retention. The participants were five health care leaders from different Army military treatment facilities located in rural areas throughout the continental United States who had more than four months of experience in physician shortages and retention strategies. Data were analyzed from semistructured interviews and Army health care policies using Yin’s five-step data analysis process. Six themes emerged: competitive pay, hiring and onboarding improvements, authorization for more staff, staff recognition, offering training/education opportunities, and providing physicians with administrative time. A key recommendation is for health care leaders to assess physician well-being as a routine institutional performance metric and provide physicians with tools for self-calibration, self-care promotion resources, and resilience training. The implications for positive social change include the potential to create availability and shorter wait times for appointments, minimize the number of patients in military treatment facilities lost to providers in the private sector network, and improve physician and patient satisfaction.
Recommended Citation
Amos, Stacey Sherrice, "Physician Retention Strategies in Small Military Treatment Facilities" (2021). Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies. 11458.
https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/11458
