Mission, presence, transparency — a playbook for physician engagement and practice success

When Beacon Health System took over four hospitals and their medical group in southwest Michigan, many of the physicians who joined had never met anyone in leadership above their office manager.

On the first day of new ownership, that changed.

Dale Patterson, M.D., M.S., FAAFP, president of Beacon Medical Group, walked through the newly acquired practices that day with other physician leaders. The acquisition made the medical group about 50% bigger, and it now has more than 850 providers. About 99% of the roughly 250 acquired physicians stayed on under contract, according to his conference slides.

"They knew that it was going to be different just by the presence that we had on the first day," Patterson said in a video interview.

Patterson and Mo Kasti, MBB, MCA, CCMC, founder and CEO of the Healthcare Leadership Institute, presented "Renter to Owner: Creating a Culture of Physician Ownership within a Medical Group" on Sept. 28 at the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) 2026 Annual Conference. Their framework, built around a shared mission, includes leadership presence, alignment, radical transparency and a seat at the table for physicians.

In an interview with Physicians Practice, Patterson explained why a mission statement has to be "succinct enough that people can remember it and understand exactly what it means," and how Beacon talks with physicians about mission alignment during recruiting.

"It's OK if the mission is different, but it's not the right place for everybody to work," he said.

He also described how the group shares its finances with physicians every month, good or bad.

"Once you do it, it's not that uncomfortable," he said of radical transparency.

Seeing the numbers, he said, "puts us all on the same page." Transparency also covers feedback, he said: Physicians need to see their patient survey results and hear from partners about how they are doing. He also discussed how a supported team shapes the patient experience and how smaller practices can develop physician leaders by looking outside their own walls, including joining with other groups to form a leadership cohort.