Over the last two decades, recognition of the importance of proactive relationship management and ongoing dialog for the maintenance of good relationships with physicians has grown significantly. The traditional model of physician relationship management is a reactive one. It puts hospital CEOs in a heroic “firefighter” role only after strained relationships result in angry calls from physicians. This approach still holds sway in some places, but there’s a growing realization that in today’s environment, it isn’t good enough anymore. A reactive model doesn’t speak adequately to the challenge of growing admissions and referrals, and takes time away from other critical tasks that the CEO needs to be involved in.

That realization has led to the creation of new physician relationship  management models. These models come in many varieties, from simple to complex, with goals ranging from modest to ambitious, and with measurement of ROI starting at “none at all” and becoming increasingly sophisticated from there.