(Fire Starter Publishing: Gulf Breeze, FL) -- A new book by best-selling author, Stephen C. Beeson, M.D., Engaging Physicians: A Manual To Physician Partnerships (Fire Starter Publishing, 2009) takes leaders on a stepwise, staged journey to engage physicians in a systemwide effort and align physician behavior to achieve worthy organizational goals and create a performance culture.

"Physician involvement is a proven predictor of success for an organization's change efforts," says Beeson. "To be the best, you have to have these critical players in support of and aligned with the organization's mission. Physician partnership is never about mandating change, but collaborating to create strategies with a sincere leader sentiment of 'win-win' for patients, physicians, and the organization."

Beeson points out that what physicians do and say has a profound influence on others who look to them for leadership. Change is hard enough. If the clinical leaders are disengaged and misaligned to an organizational mission, change strategies can fail before they begin. Where physicians go, the rest of the organization will follow—and the most successful health care leaders in the nation have figured this out.

 …