Planning a Successful and Effective Medical Staff Retreat
Recurrent medical staff retreats are a key component of an effective physician development program. They constitute a significant investment on the part of the organization. The goal of a well-designed medical staff retreat is to produce informed and activated medical staff members who can partner with administrators in the execution of the organization's quality and cost-effectiveness strateies.
Medical staff retreats require careful planning. Here are some tips on how to create a successful retreat:
- Create a vision group with a representative mix of physicians and administrators who will lead the planning process
- Choose a setting away from the clinical venue that will be relaxing and promote undistracted discussion
- Have multiple planning meetings with the retreat facilitator several months before the retreat date
- Pick a focus for the retreat that reflects the most important topics that need to be discussed
- Information can be communicated in many forms - retreats are for those things that are most important and must be experienced and reflected upon together, face to face
- Don't try to do too much - focus on what is important and what really needs to be discussed
- Although CME credit is often used as a draw for attendance, retreats should be about relationship and team building, not communication of content
- Leave them wanting more - effective retreats increase group cohesiveness and create the desire to spend more time effectively working together on organizational goals