Physicians as process innovators in healthcare organizations: Exploring the determinants of change from within

This article offers evidence-based recommendations for how healthcare organizations can change from within by encouraging their medical physicians to engage in process improvements. We tested the salience of three key organizational-level factors that have the potential to influence professionals’ process innovativeness: (1) the organization having a cost strategy that is visible to the physician, (2) the extent of human intellectual capital in the organization surrounding the physician, and (3) the sharing of common values across the healthcare organization. This article reviews the results of an online questionnaire completed by physicians and, using business consultants as a contrast group, analyzes whether physicians differ from managerially oriented professionals. We find that shared values matter among physicians but not business consultants when it comes to process innovativeness. However, cost strategy and abundant human intellectual capital are important for process innovativeness regarding business consultants, not physicians. We translate these findings into recommendations for physician engagement in organizational improvement and change programs in healthcare.