Next Steps for Medical Specialist Enterprises in the Netherlands: Building Strong Clinical Governance and Leadership Comment on "Alignment in the Hospital-Physician Relationship: A Qualitative Multiple Case Study of Medical Specialist Enterprises in the Netherlands".

Abstract

This commentary article responds to the research into development of medical specialist enterprises (MSEs) in the Netherlands conducted by Ubels and van Raaij. The MSEs are a relatively new phenomenon in the Netherlands and similar conceptually to medically-led developments in other health systems. With the foundation for medical specialist organisation in place this provides several opportunities for further development. This commentary considers these opportunities, drawing from the example of New Zealand. This is because New Zealand has had considerable experience with clinically-led organisation which provides useful lessons for the MSEs. The lessons include building strong clinical governance with a focus on collaboration with other health professionals and management, working with primary care to support community service delivery, building integrated care, developing whole of system planning and service delivery approaches and population health management.