The political discussion around salary increases for physicians should be broadened - or even shifted - to include a strategic redesign of non-monetary factors contributing to physician job satisfaction. A discussion that only focuses on cutbacks of Christmas and vacation benefits will not lead to any significant outcomes. Rather, the focus should be on performance (quality) orientation of payments and on getting rid of hierarchical structures. A proactive management of human resources (instead of an administration of personnel) has to find its place into health care management in order to keep a highly educated workforce from leaving the country or working in other non-medical professions. Instead of relying on the intrinsic motivation of physicians, strategies have to be developed to employ the physician factor efficiently and effectively in health care delivery. This is of particular importance as the physician is not only a production factor in health care delivery, but also has an impact on the efficiency and the effectiveness of the health care delivery system due to treatment decisions made by physicians. As a result, a strategic and target-orientated incentive design appears to be indispensable as human resources consume around 70% of total health care costs. The results of the study thus call for greater attention to management approaches long seen in other industries that strategically use monetary and non-monetary incentives to motivate their workforce. To improve physicians’ satisfaction with their working conditions, our results can at least call for the implementation of policies and management practices that reduce the time burden on physicians, increase monetary incentives, and enhance physicians’ participation in the development of patient care management processes and in managerial decisions that affect patient care. The result will be increased job satisfaction among physicians, which is important to the future recruitment and retention of doctors, as well as to the productivity and quality of the services provided by this essential component of our medical care systems.

redesign of non-monetary factors contributing to physician job satisfaction. A discussion that only focuses on cutbacks of Christmas and vacation benefits will not lead to any significant outcomes. Rather, the focus should be on performance (quality) orientation of payments and on getting rid of hierarchical structures. A proactive management of human resources (instead of an administration of personnel) has to find its place into health care management in order to keep a highly educated workforce from leaving the country or working in other non-medical professions. Instead of relying on the intrinsic motivation of physicians, strategies have to be developed to employ the physician factor efficiently and effectively in health care delivery. This is of particular importance as the physician is not only a production factor in health care delivery, but also has an impact on the efficiency and the effectiveness of the health care delivery system due to treatment decisions made by physicians. As a result, a strategic and target-orientated incentive design appears to be indispensable as human resources consume around 70% of total health care costs. The results of the study thus call for greater attention to management approaches long seen in other industries that strategically use monetary and non-monetary incentives to motivate their workforce.

This is of particular importance as the physician is not only a production factor in health care delivery, but also has an impact on the efficiency and the effectiveness of the health care delivery system due to treatment decisions made by physicians. As a result, a strategic and target-orientated incentive design appears to be indispensable as human resources consume around 70% of total health care costs. results of the study thus call for greater attention to management approaches long seen in other industries that strategically use monetary and non-monetary incentives to motivate their workforce. To improve physicians’ satisfaction with their working conditions, our results can at least call for the implementation of policies and management practices that reduce the time burden on physicians, increase monetary incentives, and enhance physicians’ particip… in the development of patient care management processes and in managerial decisions that affect patient care. The result will be increased job satisfaction among physicians, which is important to the future recruitment and retention of doctors, as well as to the productivity and quality of the services provided by this essential component of our medical care systems.