In a smaller physician practice, concerns can often be raised directly to a colleague or leader down the hall. In a health system that spans dozens of hospitals, hundreds of ambulatory locations, and thousands of physicians, creating that same sense of connection requires intention.
At Northwell Health, leaders believe that connection starts with listening—and that by creating meaningful opportunities for physicians to be heard, engaged and involved, they can strengthen trust and a sense of shared ownership across the physician community.
To do this, Northwell has built a culture of listening anchored in three key strategies. They are:
- A redesigned physician survey with structured follow-through.
- A Board of Governors that elevates physician voices at the highest levels of leadership.
- Community-building initiatives that foster connection across a large and growing organization.
Together, these efforts reflect a deep organizational commitment to ensuring that every physician—regardless of specialty, location or role—knows their voice matters.
Northwell Health is part of the AMA Health System Member Program, which provides enterprise solutions to equip leadership, physicians and care teams with resources to help drive the future of medicine.
Committed to a culture of listening
"Something that sets Northwell apart from other large systems is the ability to communicate across a large landscape and to flatten the organization so everybody feels like they have a say in what goes on," said Jeffrey Kuvin, MD, a cardiologist and chair of the Northwell Health Physician Partners (NHPP) Board of Governors. “It involves listening, communicating, getting back to people, and making sure that people have some accountability and agency around decisions that are made.”
This culture of listening has helped Northwell become known as a place where clinical voices are valued, and leaders take actionable steps to meet physicians where they are.
For example, the organization’s culture of listening has been on full display during Northwell’s recent transition to Epic, which has brought its 28 hospitals onto a single EHR system. Leaders have seen this transition as both a challenge and a good opportunity to listen to physicians and care teams.
“Our physicians have been asking for Epic for a long time,” said Dr Kuvin. “Now that it’s in place, we’re continuing to listen to physicians on how to course correct as we add new technologies on top of existing ones. It has really opened the door for even better communication and accountability.
“Leaders are expected to be present, accessible, and responsive—not only hearing feedback but demonstrating that if somebody brings a decision down from above that you’ve had no input into, you’re going to chafe against it,” he added. “On the other hand, if it’s a decision you don't like but you’ve had a voice in, it's much easier to go along with it.”
The organization offers physicians opportunities at both the system level and within individual service lines to voice concerns, ask questions and help develop solutions.
At the system level, Northwell leaders host regular town halls and listening sessions where frontline physicians can speak directly with leadership. Leaders then take this a step further by providing details about how it influences decisions—closing the loop by sharing how physician input is being acted upon at every level of the organization.
"Something we've heard loud and clear is that physicians value meaningful participation in decisions that affect their clinical practice," said Mark Talamini, MD, a general surgeon and executive director of NHPP. "Even when opinions differ, physicians are more likely to support decisions when they have had an opportunity to contribute their perspective."
Impactful surveys
One of the clearest examples of Northwell's commitment to physician voice is its redesigned physician survey, which was transformed into a meaningful tool for organizational change. Recognizing that only 53% of physicians previously believed their feedback would lead to improvement, Northwell embarked on a comprehensive initiative to address physician skepticism and drive engagement.
This multi-phase approach began with a survey redesign that emphasized brevity, clinical relevance, and robust confidentiality protections. Leadership then worked closely with service line chairs and physicians with expertise in survey development to deploy the survey across the system. The result was a record-high 77% response rate among 4,020 physicians, signaling growing confidence that their feedback would be heard and acted upon.
With that strong response came heightened expectations. Leaders implemented individualized one-on-one consultations with all 21 service line leaders to review results, identify strengths and opportunities, and collaboratively develop actionable improvement plans.
"We discussed how to work together to address the issues our physicians shared, and we partnered with leaders to develop action plans that reflected physician feedback," Dr. Talamini explained.
As the chair of cardiology, Dr. Kuvin saw a clear shift with this new survey process.
"It has been a gamechanger," he said. "We used to look at the survey and make our own interpretations. Then there weren't any real follow-ups or ways that we were pushing the organization forward."
Today, he and other service line leaders partner with the NHPP Physician Well-being team to enhance what is working well while collectively addressing challenges together. A direct outcome of this focused feedback and follow-through was the development of a comprehensive Physician Career Toolkit, created in response to survey data showing career development as one of the lowest-scoring items at 65% favorable. The toolkit provides structured resources, best practices, and a centralized catalogue of development opportunities available across Northwell.
"The feedback from the surveys has helped us change the way we communicate with our doctors, how we advocate for decision-making locally, and how we address faculty development," Dr. Kuvin said.
Turning physician perspectives into organizational action
In addition to surveys, Northwell elevates physicians' voices through the organization's Board of Governors, which brings together a group of physician leaders at all levels for a monthly meeting.
"Frontline physicians don't need their leaders to have all the answers. But they want us to bear witness to what's going on with them," said Tochi Iroku-Malize, MD, MPH, a family physician and immediate past chair of the Board of Governors at NHPP. "They want to know that leadership understands the emotional weight of what it is to be a physician—the moral distress, grief, and moments that stay with you long after the workday ends."
"Our primary goal is to be a listening forum to hear from physicians and for our executives to speak directly to them," said Dr. Talamini.
The Board of Governors comprises physicians from different specialties, locations, and regions throughout the system.
"This diverse group helps us have very rich and involved conversations," said Dr. Iroku-Malize. "We often come up with ideas that senior leadership may not think about."
Each month, the Board of Governors brings in a senior leader as a guest speaker on a specific topic relevant to physicians. Speakers have included Northwell's chief medical officer, CEO, chief nursing officer, and head of human resources, among others. Before each meeting, board members share questions they would like the senior leader to answer, or topics to discuss. The meeting also includes breakout sessions where small groups take deeper dives into challenges and possible solutions.
These Board of Governors meetings are intentionally designed to foster open dialogue, collaboration, and continuous improvement. After meetings, board leaders present information to Northwell's executive committee and report back to the Board of Governors, sharing progress and details every step of the way.
"The engagement at the Board of Governors has increased significantly because of these meetings and the interactivity," Dr. Kuvin shared.
Building community
Formal leadership structures are only one part of Northwell's listening strategy. The organization's leaders also recognize the importance of creating opportunities for physicians to connect with one another outside of meetings and surveys.
"It starts with the Board of Governors, but we need to disseminate it further," said Dr. Kuvin. "Our job is to make sure that every physician—from academic faculty members to community faculty members—knows we are listening to them and adjusting based on their feedback."
Northwell has several initiatives designed to reach and connect with these doctors. For instance, its Doctor's Lounge events bring together 200 to 300 physicians in each region two times a year. The organization also hosts Connect the Docs dinners, which give physicians an opportunity to build relationships with colleagues through shared interests, hobbies, or professional networks, organized and funded by the NHPP Physician Well-being team.
"These types of initiatives are critically important to our listening strategy," Dr. Talamini said. "They show that we want our physicians to know one another and interact successfully, and that we want to hear from them."
Listening on a personal level
Of course, listening has many layers when it comes to healthcare. As one of the most emotionally complex professions, physicians face distinct challenges that only other physicians can fully understand.
"Doctors are often thought to be superheroes where nothing bothers us, but that's simply not true," said Dr. Iroku-Malize. "If you can remember a patient encounter from 20 years ago and it still stirs up emotions, that experience mattered. And all of us have experiences like that."
With this in mind, Dr. Iroku-Malize launched a monthly virtual Balint session as chair of family medicine, offering physicians a safe, anonymous space to discuss challenging cases and situations with fellow doctors. Each session begins with a wellness topic before moving into a discussion of a difficult case.
"We created a confidential, nonjudgmental space where there is no documentation, no performance evaluation and no administrative agenda—and physicians continue to engage with the program," she said.
For Northwell, listening is more than an engagement strategy. It is a leadership philosophy. Whether through redesigned surveys and sustained follow-through, governance structures, peer support forums, or informal community-building, the organization continues to demonstrate that physicians are more likely to trust their leaders, engage with their organizations, and help drive change when they know their voices matter.
"What heals is not necessarily the solution, it's the experience of being heard," said Dr. Iroku-Malize. "The most powerful thing a leader can do is to create a protected space where physicians can be heard and where they know someone in leadership cares."
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