Knowledge of effectiveness and its application in secondary healthcare management

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to map out managers' understanding of effectiveness and to assess the application of knowledge of effectiveness in secondary healthcare management. Additionally, the study aims to assess the present situation of effectiveness research and the measures used...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inInternational journal of productivity and performance management Vol. 60; no. 8; pp. 797 - 812
Main Authors Simonen, Outi, Blom, Marja, Viitanen, Elina
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Bradford Emerald Group Publishing Limited 01.11.2011
Subjects
Cost analysis
Decision making
Division
Executives
Health care
Health economics
Hospitals
Knowledge management
Management
Managers
Medical
Nurses
Patients
Policies
Productivity
Studies
Secondary healthcare
Effectiveness
Hospitals
Health services
Finland
Knowledge management
Knowledge
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Summary:Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to map out managers' understanding of effectiveness and to assess the application of knowledge of effectiveness in secondary healthcare management. Additionally, the study aims to assess the present situation of effectiveness research and the measures used in divisions of treatment.Design methodology approach - The study was conducted by interviewing department directors, chief medical officers and directors of nursing (n=38) in the surgical, medical and psychiatric divisions of the five largest hospital districts in Finland.Findings - The concept of effectiveness was complex, and difficult to concretise and understand uniformly. Knowledge of effectiveness supports both clinical and administrative management. Managers have different ways of applying knowledge of effectiveness depending on their managerial role. Effectiveness studies and measurement are still relatively rare in secondary healthcare and rarely identified as such by management.Practical implications - The concept of effectiveness is not clear in management. Managers have an unclear understanding of knowledge of effectiveness and its application in secondary healthcare management.Originality value - The paper addresses the need for a discussion on effectiveness in secondary health care. In addition, managers need knowledge and support for implementing the policy of effectiveness on all levels of management.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-2
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-1
content type line 23
ISSN:1741-0401
1758-6658
DOI:10.1108/17410401111182198