The importance of clinical leadership in twenty-first century health care

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to investigate the importance of leadership in health care. It also attempts to guide the aspiring clinical leaders to acquire the necessary leadership skills to help them deliver safe high value care for patients. This research paper describes the ingredients for successful leadership including individual attributes, competencies, and leadership outcomes. The findings underline that health-care organizations are increasingly interested to educate and train their clinicians to improve care and ultimately become effective leaders. The main conclusions drawn from this work are that medical schools need to introduce leadership skills at the undergraduate level; and health-care organizations ought to change their policies and encourage clinicians to enroll in professional development programs. This work recommends many opportunities for networking and education for health-care leaders to improve their leadership skills.