Off the Chart: A Business of Medicine Podcast · Medical Economics

Reinventing physician training, with AMGA President Jerry Penso, M.D., MBA, and Practicing Excellence founder Stephen Beeson, M.D.

·31 min·4 clips

Keith Reynolds sits down with Dr. Jerry Penso, President and CEO of the American Medical Group Association, and Dr. Stephen Beeson, founder of Practicing Excellence. The conversation centers on a new strategic partnership between AMGA and Practicing Excellence that is meant to support physician development and practice performance. Penso lays out the problem in practical terms: medical groups are saying finances, access, and workforce are their top concerns. Beeson and Penso connect those pressures to burnout and to the broader war for talent that is reshaping hiring and retention. The episode makes the case that people are choosing organizations where they can grow and develop personally. That expectation now sits right alongside leadership behavior as a major reason someone stays or leaves. The episode treats that as a real shift, not a passing management theme. It argues that the time to deal with it is now because retaining clinical talent, engaging clinical talent, and executing outcomes all depend on it. The conversation also takes a skeptical view of traditional all-day training sessions. Those models are presented as a poor fit for the changing healthcare environment. Practicing Excellence is described as something different, built to fit the current moment more closely. The emphasis stays on practical development rather than generic motivation. AMGA is positioned as a facilitator in the partnership, not just a distributor. Members are told that AMGA has fully vetted the partner and will help keep the contracting process smooth. The rollout begins with 30 AMGA members already using the program. Those groups are medical groups and health systems across the country. The expectation is that they will learn from one another through their discussion groups. AMGA members can compare the challenges they are facing and the solutions they are finding. That peer exchange is part of the adoption path. Discounted rates are part of the offer as well. The larger aim is to make physician development easier to access while keeping attention on day to day practice performance.

As heard by us

Physician development is framed as a retention strategy when burnout and workforce pressure make growth matter more.

The piece treats physician development as a retention and performance question, not as a nice-to-have perk. Jerry Penso and Stephen Beeson argue that medical groups are under strain from finances, access demands, and workforce pressure, while burnout and a tougher hiring market…

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Why you'd press play

If your practice is struggling to keep clinicians, this episode points at the pressure plainly.

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