The Physician Advisor's Role in Contemporary Psychiatry and Quality of Care.

The medical profession has always sought to govern itself through standards for teaching, patient care, and avoidance of adverse outcomes for patients. In the last decade, the burdens of self governance have greatly increased to include performance initiatives, revenue generation, and reduction of financial risks to training medical institutions. The physician advisor (PA) as a clinical leader facilitates care and cost initiatives with administrative leadership. The goal of this article is to describe the varied and complex responsibilities of such a role and ways to impact care delivery in psychiatry. Methods used to impact on patient care are described. Anticipated results through the use of systematic administrative leadership are outlined.