Moving organizational theory in health care forward: A discussion with suggestions for critical advancements.

In May 2019, scholars in management and organization of health care organizations and systems met. The opening plenary was a moderated discussion with five distinguished scholars who have exemplified pushing the frontier of organizational theory and practice throughout their careers: Ann Barry Flood of Dartmouth College, John Kimberly of the University of Pennsylvania, Anthony (Tony) Kovner of New York University, Stephen (Steve) Shortell of University of California at Berkeley, and Jacqueline (Jackie) Zinn of Temple University. The discussion was moderated by Ingrid Nembhard of the University of Pennsylvania. The goal of the plenary was to provide an opportunity to hear from senior members of the health care management community how they think about organizational behavior and theory, changes that they have observed, research gaps that they see, and lessons for research and practice that they have learned. This article is the transcript of that plenary discussion. It is shared to capture the intellectual history of the field and help surface the critical advancements still needed in organizational theory and practice in health care. The closing remarks of the panelists summarize recommendations for both practice and scholarship in health care organization management.

Evidence-based management reconsidered.

Reports of medical mistakes have splashed across newspapers and magazines in the United States. At the same time, instances of overuse, underuse, and misuse of management tactics and strategies receive far less attention. The sense of urgency associated with improving the quality of medical care does not exist with respect to improving the quality of management decision making. A more evidence-based approach would improve the competence of the decision-makers and their motivation to use more scientific methods when making a decision. The authors of this article consider a study of 68 U.S. health services managers that found a low level of evidence-based management behaviors. From the findings, four strategies are suggested to increase health systems managers' use of research evidence to improve decision making: focusing evidence-based decision making on strategically important issues, developing committees and other structures to diffuse management research throughout the organization, building a management culture that values research, and training managers in the competencies required to apply research evidence to health services management decisions. To aid the manager in understanding and applying an evidenced-based approach to decision making, the article provides practical tools, techniques, and resources for immediate use.

Evidence-based teaching: a course in health services management.

This article traces the development of a course in health services management over 40 years and presents the course within a context of teaching evidence-based management. One emphasis of the course is on teaching through storytelling--students developing learning capability to listen to what each stakeholder has to say, and then figuring what to do about it. Students share evidence from the professor's own work experience, the student's own work experience, peer-reviewed published articles, and case studies.

Managers, teachers, researchers: sharing experience in health care.

The author observes that academic training is an asset for any managerial position in the health sector. As with medicine and nursing, health care management should be more evidence-based. The author argues that top managers in health care generally lack adequate internal support to rigorously evaluate strategic interventions or consultant recommendations and to learn from industrywide best practices.