Application of motivation theories for an incentive framework for medical staff in Greece of crisis

ABSTRACT The purpose of this literature review was to demonstrate the need to motivate medical staff of public and private sector in our country, to assess the practical application of motivation theories to permanent medical staff in public hospitals and to present a realistic framework of incentives for this staff, in order to improve the quality and efficiency of health services. The literature review has shown that the provision of extrinsic and intrinsic incentives to permanent medical staff in public and private hospitals is an urgent need, especially nowadays, where the limited resources in the health sector due to the economic crisis have reinforced the phenomenon of "brain drain" (more than 4,000 Greek doctors have requested in 2013 for jobs abroad) and the professional problems of doctors (burnout, stress, decrease earnings), resulting in low satisfaction and therefore lower performance. However, for effective motivation of the medical staff, it is important to recognize the needs and record the socio-economic and demographic characteristics of each medical practitioner in order to choose the appropriate methods and motivation theories in the context of a realistic incentive design to improve the quality and efficiency of health services.