Mikael Ohrling, Sara Tolf, Karin Solberg-Carlsson and Mats Brommels
Decentralisation in health care has been proposed as a way to make services more responsive to local needs and by that improve patient care. This study analyses how the senior…
Abstract
Purpose
Decentralisation in health care has been proposed as a way to make services more responsive to local needs and by that improve patient care. This study analyses how the senior management team conceptualised and implemented a decentralised management model within a large public health care delivery organisation.
Design/methodology/approach
Data from in-depth interviews with a senior management team were used in a directed content analysis. Underlying assumptions and activities in the decentralisation process are presented in the logic model and scrutinised in an a priori logic analysis using relevant scientific literature.
Findings
The study found support in the scientific literature for the underlying assumptions that increased responsibility will empower managers as clinical directors know their local prerequisites best and are able to adapt to patient needs. Top management should function like an air traffic control tower, trust and loyalty improve managerial capacity, increased managerial skills release creativity and engagement and a system perspective will support collaboration and learning.
Originality/value
To the authors’ knowledge this is the first a priori logic analysis of a decentralised management model in a healthcare delivery organisation in primary and community care. It shows that the activities consist with underlying assumptions, supported by evidence, and timely planned give managers decision space and ability to use their delegated authority, not disregarding accountability and fostering necessary organisational and individual capacities to avoid suboptimisation.
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The broad perspective and synthetic approach of technologyassessment raises the question whether the technology assessment modelcan be utilised for practical decision support. The…
Abstract
The broad perspective and synthetic approach of technology assessment raises the question whether the technology assessment model can be utilised for practical decision support. The idea is tested in the environment of local care decision making. Technology assessment‐like management instruments for assisting goal formulation, enhancement of organisational efficiency and quality assurance are presented.
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Fauziah Rabbani, S.M. Wasim Jafri, Farhat Abbas, Firdous Jahan, Nadir Ali Syed, Gregory Pappas, Syed Iqbal Azam, Mats Brommels and Göran Tomson
Organizational culture is a determinant for quality improvement. This paper aims to assess organizational culture in a hospital setting, understand its relationship with…
Abstract
Purpose
Organizational culture is a determinant for quality improvement. This paper aims to assess organizational culture in a hospital setting, understand its relationship with perceptions about quality of care and identify areas for improvement.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper is based on a cross‐sectional survey in a large clinical department that used two validated questionnaires. The first contained 20 items addressing perceptions of cultural typology (64 respondents). The second one assessed staff views on quality improvement implementation (48 faculty) in three domains: leadership, information and analysis and human resource utilization (employee satisfaction).
Findings
All four cultural types received scoring, from a mean of 17.5 (group), 13.7 (developmental), 31.2 (rational) to 37.2 (hierarchical). The latter was the dominant cultural type. Group (participatory) and developmental (open) culture types had significant positive correlation with optimistic perceptions about leadership (r=0.48 and 0.55 respectively, p<0.00). Hierarchical (bureaucratic) culture was significantly negatively correlated with domains; leadership (r=−0.61, p<0.00), information and analysis (−0.50, p<0.00) and employee satisfaction (r=−0.55, p<0.00). Responses reveal a need for leadership to better utilize suggestions for improving quality of care, strengthening the process of information analysis and encouraging reward and recognition for employees.
Research limitations/implications
It is likely that, by adopting a participatory and open culture, staff views about organizational leadership will improve and employee satisfaction will be enhanced. This finding has implications for quality care implementation in other hospital settings.
Originality/value
The paper bridges an important gap in the literature by addressing the relationship between culture and quality care perceptions in a Pakistani hospital. As such a new and informative perspective is added.
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Quality improvement has developed and spread, and today, all Swedish Regions emphasize that their strategies are based on systematic improvement. This paper aims to describe and…
Abstract
Purpose
Quality improvement has developed and spread, and today, all Swedish Regions emphasize that their strategies are based on systematic improvement. This paper aims to describe and illuminate the development of Quality Improvement (QI) in Swedish healthcare and welfare organizations by using publications in a Swedish context.
Design/methodology/approach
The overview synthesis is inspired by a scoping literature review approach of relevant literature. All publications relevant to Swedish healthcare and welfare settings between 1992 until 2020 were included.
Findings
In all, 213 papers, 29 books and chapters and 34 dissertations related to QI and research in Swedish healthcare and welfare context were identified. From 2011 to 2020, the publication rate increased rapidly. Six different focus areas emerged: systematic and value-creating improvement work; collaboration between organizations and healthcare providers; use of improvement methods and (theoretical) models; leadership and learning; measurements, quality registers and follow-up; and involvement and patient safety. Further QI development in Swedish healthcare and welfare points to an increased importance of collaboration between organizations and coproduction with beneficiaries for the healthcare and welfare services.
Originality/value
This paper is one of the first to describe and illuminate the QI development in the healthcare and welfare sector in a country. The trajectory also points to a need for coproduction to handle future challenges.
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Sérgio A.F. Pereira, João J. Ferreira, Hussain Gulzar Rammal and Marta Peris-Ortiz
The health sector is increasingly dynamic and complex, in which (strategic) change has become a constant in the sector's adaptation to different challenges. This study aims to…
Abstract
Purpose
The health sector is increasingly dynamic and complex, in which (strategic) change has become a constant in the sector's adaptation to different challenges. This study aims to meet the need to understand which trends in the literature on strategic change in the health sector and which elements comprise it.
Design/methodology/approach
To advance research in this area, the authors systematically review 285 articles collected from the Scopus database. The authors conducted a bibliometric analysis using the VOSviewer software by applying the bibliographic matching method to understand how these articles were grouped and thus characterise the literature trends.
Findings
Through a systematic literature review (SLR), this study analyses the various lenses of literature on strategic change in the context of the health sector, classifying and conceptually mapping existing research into four thematic groups: key factors in strategic change, theories and models underlying strategic change, decentralisation in strategic change and the challenges to strategic change in this millennium.
Research limitations/implications
The trends in the literature on strategic change in the health sector explore strategic change from different perspectives. Key features in strategic change suffered reciprocal influence from the theories/models of strategic change and decentralisation of health care so that the health sector could define strategies to respond to the challenges it faced.
Originality/value
The health sector has been in great prominence worldwide, specifically due to the recent events that have occurred on a planetary scale. Therefore, a systematic review is essential to help understand the strategic changes that have occurred in the health sector and their impact. The authors did not find any SLR that focuses on global strategic changes in the health sector, so this study will fill this gap, systematising the main topics on strategic change in the health sector. The authors also suggest an integrative research framework and a future research agenda.
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Johan Thor, Bo Herrlin, Karin Wittlöv, John Øvretveit and Mats Brommels
The purpose of this paper is to examine the outcomes and evolution over a five‐year period of a Swedish university hospital quality improvement program in light of enduring…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the outcomes and evolution over a five‐year period of a Swedish university hospital quality improvement program in light of enduring uncertainty regarding the effectiveness of such programs in healthcare and how best to evaluate it.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper takes the form of a case study, using data collected as part of the program, including quality indicators from clinical improvement projects and participants' program evaluations.
Findings
Overall, 58 percent of the program's projects (39/67) demonstrated success. A greater proportion of projects led by female doctors demonstrated success (91 percent, n=11) than projects led by male doctors (51 percent, n=55). Facilitators at the hospital continuously adapted the improvement methods to the local context. A lack of dedicated time for improvement efforts was the participants' biggest difficulty. The dominant benefits included an increased ability to see the “bigger picture” and the improvements achieved for patients and employees.
Research limitations/implications
Quality measurement, which is important for conducting and evaluating improvement efforts, was weak with limited reliability. Nevertheless, the present study adds evidence about the effectiveness of healthcare improvement programs. Gender differences in improvement team leadership merit further study. Improvement program evaluation should assess the extent to which improvement methods are locally adapted and applied.
Originality/value
This case study reports the outcomes of all improvement projects undertaken in one healthcare organization over a five‐year period and provides in‐depth insight into an improvement program's changeable nature.
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Fatemeh Alipour, Sogol Jamshidizadeh, Peivand Bastani and Gholamhossein Mehralian
A balanced scorecard (BSC) is an applied tool for implementing strategic management in various organizations. Implementing strategic management using the BSC approach has not…
Abstract
Purpose
A balanced scorecard (BSC) is an applied tool for implementing strategic management in various organizations. Implementing strategic management using the BSC approach has not received much attention in pharmacy departments. This study aims to provide a model for the strategic management of pharmacy departments using the BSC framework.
Design/methodology/approach
This experimental study was conducted from 2015 to 2018 in a 300-bed hospital and regional healthcare centers affiliated with the Petroleum Industry Health Organization in Tehran province, Iran. After carefully reviewing the organization's mission and vision, the strategic objectives were determined via the internal matrix and the external matrix (IE matrix), and the strengths–weaknesses–opportunities–threats matrix (SWOT matrix) were examined. Then, six BSC measures and interventions were identified, and each was examined from the perspectives of finance, patient satisfaction, internal processes and learning/growth. Finally, the proposed strategy was evaluated.
Findings
Results showed significant increases in patient satisfaction and gross profit. The observed increase range, from 0.09 to 0.29, indicates more effective operational management for optimal resource utilization. In addition, the pharmacy department was able to save US $539,137 by implementing prepared protocols for expensive medications. Similarly, the pharmacy department saved $442,899 during the two years of our strategic management plan by implementing the standard mechanism for returning unused medications to the pharmacy department after patients were discharged from various treatment units.
Originality/value
This study is among the first studies to demonstrate the simultaneous development, implementation and evaluation of the proposed strategy using the BSC in a pharmacy department in a public healthcare center. The BSC application improved the optimal use of resources and reduced costs while increasing patient satisfaction. It appears that the application of such an intervention may be as valuable to public pharmacies as it is to other private centers.
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Soki Choi, Ingalill Holmberg, Jan Löwstedt and Mats Brommels
This paper seeks to explore critical factors that may obstruct or advance integration efforts initiated by the clinical management following a hospital merger. The aim is to…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper seeks to explore critical factors that may obstruct or advance integration efforts initiated by the clinical management following a hospital merger. The aim is to increase the understanding of why clinical integration succeeds or fails.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors compare two cases of clinical integration efforts following the Karolinska University Hospital merger in Sweden. Each case represents two merged clinical departments of the same specialty from each hospital site. In total, 53 interviews were conducted with individuals representing various staff categories and documents were collected to check data consistency.
Findings
The study identifies three critical factors that seem to be instrumental for the process and outcome of integration efforts and these are clinical management's interpretation of the mandate; design of the management constellation; and approach to integration. Obstructive factors are: a sole focus on the formal assignment from the top; individual leadership; and the use of a classic, planned, top‐down management approach. Supportive factors are: paying attention to multiple stakeholders; shared leadership; and the use of an emergent, bottom‐up management approach within planned boundaries. These findings are basically consistent with the literature's prescriptions for managing professional organisations.
Practical implications
Managers need to understand that public healthcare organisations are based on competing institutional logics that need to be handled in a balanced way if clinical integration is to be achieved – especially the tension between managerialism and professionalism.
Originality/value
By focusing on the merger consequences for clinical units, this paper addresses an important gap in the healthcare merger literature.
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Paulina Junni and Riikka Mirja Sarala
In this chapter, we examine the role of M&A (mergers and acquisitions) leadership by conducting a review of recent empirical studies on M&A leadership. Our aim is to provide an…
Abstract
In this chapter, we examine the role of M&A (mergers and acquisitions) leadership by conducting a review of recent empirical studies on M&A leadership. Our aim is to provide an overview of the current state of knowledge concerning M&A leadership. More specifically, we examine how M&A leadership has been studied (i.e., study methods, data sources), where M&A leadership has been studied (i.e., geographic distribution, industries, level of analysis), which leadership M&A outcomes and M&A leadership perspectives have been examined, and finally, how M&A leadership influences post-M&A outcomes. This allows us to identify main areas of interest and provide suggestions for further research.
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Kwabena G. Boakye, Charles Blankson, Victor R. Prybutok and Hong Qin
The purpose of this paper is to propose and test a healthcare framework of service quality, perceived value, and satisfaction in Ghana. More specifically, this study investigates…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to propose and test a healthcare framework of service quality, perceived value, and satisfaction in Ghana. More specifically, this study investigates the role and effect of service quality on patient satisfaction and perceived value in Ghana’s healthcare delivery.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were gathered through surveys administered to 113 healthcare patients in Ghana. partial least square-structural equation modeling analysis was used to empirically test the research model.
Findings
Results show healthcare quality significantly influences satisfaction and perceived value of healthcare delivery. Additionally, perceived value’s impact on satisfaction and behavioral intention shows that increasing perceived benefits while reducing perceived costs leads to repeat behavior and paves the way for retention strategy for healthcare management.
Research limitations/implications
This study yields a series of limitations in its results and conclusions. These limitations and future research are discussed in Section 7 of the study.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the literature by examining the effects of healthcare service quality on patient satisfaction and perceived value, determining the effect of healthcare service quality on patients’ behavioral intention, and testing the proposed framework in Ghana, a fast growing and economically liberalized emerging country in Sub-Saharan Africa.