Hospital and physician alignment strategies should effectively promote clinical integration, efficiency and quality. As illustrated in the previous pages in this section of the Knowledge Hub, there are three pieces to successful physician alignment:

• Aligned incentives: stakeholders are motivated to participate in clinical integration.

• Aligned knowledge: stakeholders get the right information at the right time.

• Aligned behavior: stakeholders act and respond to information in a unified way.

For most organizations, standardizing behavior as part of physician alignment strategies can mean adopting tools (which can be continually updated and innovated) to ensure that the right information is captured, the right decisions are considered, and the right recipients within the care organization receive the information they need throughout the system. Aligned behavior relies on standardized processes for stakeholders and can demand a standard approach for how to create, store, use and exchange health information.

Aligned behavior ensures that caregivers, executives, payers and even patients contribute:

• Take the right actions when needed

• Adhere to shared goals and benchmarks

• Can identify high-risk patients and establish standard protocols and processes for outreach to these patients

• Are practicing to the highest level of their license, skill and knowledge

• Have the necessary supplies, equipment and technology

With the complexity and variability in how physicians work, physician alignment strategies that rely on standardized workflows can present a challenge. With that in mind, it is important to cultivate strong physician relationships and physician leadership to create consensus for a unified approach to information system design and implementation.

Conversely, the right information systems can improve physician relationships. they can create a brand and identity, standardize workflows, and monitor performance. In some cases, when organizations identify issues with physician relationships or performance, specific information system solutions can drive changes, such as adding medication error alerts or building a discharge planning dashboard.