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Ask the expert: Who should pay medical staff leaders?

Medical Staff Leader Connection, April 22, 2010

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After determining how much to pay a medical staff leader, the next question to ask is who should fund the stipend—the medical staff, hospital administration, or both? Traditionally, hospital administration has funded the stipend because it wants to ensure that the medical staff has leaders who can carry out their board-delegated duty to promote high-quality care, says Mary Hoppa, MD, MBA, CMSL, senior consultant at The Greeley Company, a division of HCPro, Inc. in Marblehead, MA.

However, some medical staffs feel uncomfortable with that arrangement. Why? Because they are afraid that medical staff leaders who receive money from hospital administration will act in the administration’s best interests rather than the medical staff’s. But it might not be as financially sound for medical staffs to compensate leaders rather than the hospital. To afford medical staff leaders’ stipends, many medical staffs must increase their annual dues or divert dues away from other purposes, such as the medical staff library or scholarships for up-and-coming physicians.

“What we are seeing more often than in the past is that it is a shared responsibility. The hospital puts in half and the medical staff puts in half,” says Hoppa.

This week’s question and answer are from “Four questions every medical staff should ask before paying leaders,” in the May issue of Medical Staff Briefing.
 

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