External coaching can be a valuable tool in helping members of your hospital’s staff navigate their tasks more effectively. You may have primarily used it to train IT or administrative workers — but did you know that outside professional coaching can help your physicians perform better, too?

Here are five science-driven ways can coaching help your doctors feel and do better — and why it's well worth the economic cost.

It's objective.

An outside professional coaching firm can observe and meet with your doctors using "fresh eyes." That kind of new perspective will swiftly identify problems you may have missed, and help you streamline solution approaches in ways you never thought of.

It prevents burnout.

According to new research from the Mayo Clinic and study author Liselotte Dyrbye, doctors who take advantage of outside professional coaching provided by their healthcare facilities are much less likely to experience burnout than doctors who don't get this kind of input.

It identifies integration issues.

New research from Rice University and study author Vivian Ho has found that when physicians integrate with hospitals, the cost of healthcare often rises with regard to testing procedures like X-rays or MRIs.

Using an external coaching team can help figure out why this might be happening at your facility, then working with your physicians regarding the cost-effective recommendation of screenings, can be a powerful tool.

It can help boost your research initiatives.

A new study in The New England Journal of Medicine from University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center found that there's a great need for increasing the number of physicians who conduct research at teaching hospitals.

Boost your research output by seeking external evaluation. A coaching firm can identify and encourage promising and gifted medical students and residents to begin thinking about the research opportunities they want to pursue.

It saves you time.

Time is money. So how do you identify the best professional coaching service for your facility? Use these three key methods:

  • Focus on firms with a solid track record in specialized medical training, not simply corporate training.
  • Choose a firm whose representative listens to and understands the goals you wish to achieve at your institution and offers innovative insight on what additional benefits your staff members could glean from coaching.
  • Ask for a trial coaching session before you fully commit. Observe the style and messaging the professional coach brings to the meeting. Does it mesh well with the information you want stressed? Does the coach appear sincere or phony? Authenticity is incredibly important when it comes to gaining the attention of your staff.

Allowing a quality professional coach to recommend changes and innovations can be endlessly helpful — and sharpen your focus in every conceivable way as you work to make your institution the best it can be.