A Qualitative Study to Identify Skills and Competency Required for Hospital Managers
Keywords:
Skill, Capabilities, Hospital manager, Hospital, ChallengesAbstract
Introduction: Hospital managers aim to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of their institutions through leadership and guidance of medical personnel. Fulfilling these objectives requires a holistic approach to both the management of people and institutional prioritization. The aim of this study was to identify the skills and competencies that hospital managers must demonstrate in order to achieve their objectives.
Methods: In 2015, a regional, multi-center qualitative study was undertaken in Shiraz, Iran. Interviews and focus group discussions were conducted with university hospital managers, senior managers, faculty members, and post-graduate students, and the results were analyzed using the content analysis method by MAXQDA software.
Results: Eight key skill themes (communication, experience, appreciation of institution logistics/infrastructure, management skills, motivation, systematic problem solving, ethics, and financial/legal awareness) were identified among the hospital managers. The common challenges that face hospital institutions include problems with hierarchical and organizational structure, excessive rules and regulations, lack of resources, poor post-graduate education, and overall management. Recurring themes with respect to how these could be addressed included changing the culture and belief structure of the hospital, restructuring the organizational hierarchy, and empowering the people.
Conclusion: In our cohort, practical skills, such as communication and experience, were considered more important than theoretical skills for the effective management and administration of hospitals. Therefore, we suggest that practical, skill-based training should be emphasized for students of these disciplines so they will be better suited to deal with real world challenges. Further organizational improvements also can be attained by the active and constructive involvement of senior university managers.
References
Parand A, Dopson S, Renz A, Vincent C. The role of hospital managers in quality and patient safety: a
systematic review. BMJ open. 2014; 4(9): 005055. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2014-005055. PMID: 25192876,
PMCID: PMC4158193.
Berwick D. Will is the way to win the patient safety war. Health Serv J. 2007; 117(6044): 18-9. PMID:
Aij KH, Aernoudts RL, Joosten G. Manager traits and quality-of-care performance in hospitals. Leadersh
Health Serv. 2015; 28(3): 200-15. doi: 10.1108/LHS-07-2014-0053. PMID: 26083635.
Hamidi Y, Eivazi Z. The relationships among employees' job stress, job satisfaction, and the organizational
performance of Hamadan urban health centers. Social Behavior and Personality. 2010; 38(7): 963-8. doi:
2224/sbp.2010.38.7.963.
Griffin ML. Gender and stress a comparative assessment of sources of stress among correctional officers.
Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice. 2006; 22(1): 5-25. doi: 10.1177/1043986205285054.
Salami A, Ojokuku R, Ilesanmi O. Impact of job stress on managers’ performance. European Journal of
Scientific Research. 2010; 45(2): 249-60.
Supic ZT, Bjegovic V, Marinkovic J, Milicevic MS, Vasic V. Hospital management training and
improvement in managerial skills: Serbian experience. Health policy. 2010; 96(1): 80-9. doi:
1016/j.healthpol.2010.01.002. PMID: 20116126.
Chadwell I, Bhitrakoti R, Khadka R. Measuring Management Training Needs of Hospital Managers in
Nepal. JNMA J Nepal Med Assoc. 2012; 52(186): 52-60. PMID: 23478730.
Howard DM. How Health Management Leaders Evaluate the Interpersonal Skills of US Business and
Health Management-Trained Professionals. Medical Research Archives. 2015(3). 10) Hamidi Y, Barati M. Communication Skills of Heads of Departments: Verbal, Listening, and Feedback
Skills. J Res Health Sci. 2011; 11(2): 91-6. PMID: 22911958.
Ghorbani AA, Hesamzadeh A, Khademloo M, Khalili S, Hesamzadeh S, Berger V. Public and private
hospital nurses’ perceptions of the ethical climate in their work settings, Sari city, 2011. Nurs Midwifery
Stud. 2014; 3(1): 12867. PMID: 25414890, PMCID: PMC4228523.
Shwekerela B. The effects of hospital reforms on the management of public hospitals in Tanzania:
Challenges and lessons learnt. World Hosp Health Serv. 2014; 50(4): 23-6. PMID: 25985557.
Bastani P, Abolhasani N, Shaarbafchizadeh N. Electronic Health in Perspective of Healthcare Managers: A
Qualitative Study in South of Iran. Iran J Public Health. 2014; 43(6): 809-20. PMID: 26110152, PMCID:
PMC4475600.
Kebede S, Mantopoulos J, Ramanadhan S, Cherlin E, Gebeyehu M, Lawson R, et al. Educating leaders in
hospital management: A pre-post study in Ethiopian hospitals. Glob Public Health. 2012; 7(2): 164-74. doi:
1080/17441692.2010.542171. PMID: 21259143.
Ritchie J, Lewis J, Nicholls CM, Ormston R. Qualitative research practice: A guide for social science
students and researchers: Sage; 2013.
Forman J, Damschroder L. Qualitative content analysis. Empirical Research for Bioethics: A Primer.
Oxford, UK: Elsevier Publishing. 2008.
Beigzadeh A, Okhovati M, Mehrolhasani M, Shokoohi M, Bazrafshan A. Challenges of the bachelor
program of health services management: a qualitative study. Journal of Health Administration (JHA). 2014;
(55): 29-42.
Braithwaite J, Westbrook MT, Robinson M, Michael S, Pirone C, Robinson P. Improving patient safety:
the comparative views of patient-safety specialists, workforce staff and managers. BMJ Qual Saf. 2011;
(5): 424-31. doi: 10.1136/bmjqs.2010.047605. PMID: 21242528.
Leggat SG, Balding C, Anderson J. Empowering health-care managers in Australia: an action learning
approach. Health Serv Manage Res. 2011; 24(4): 196-202. doi: 10.1258/hsmr.2011.011012. PMID:
Leggat S, Bartram T, Stanton P. Exploring the lack of progress in improving patient safety in Australian
hospitals. Health Serv Manage Res. 2008; 21(1): 32-9. doi: 10.1258/hsmr.2007.007012. PMID: 18275663.
McInnes E, Phillips R, Middleton S, Gould D. A qualitative study of senior hospital managers’ views on
current and innovative strategies to improve hand hygiene. BMC Infect Dis. 2014; 14(1): 611. doi:
1186/s12879-014-0611-3. PMID: 25407783, PMCID: PMC4237732.
Erkutlu HV, Chafra J. Relationship between leadership power bases and job stress of subordinates:
example from boutique hotels. Management Research News. 2006; 29(5): 285-97. doi:
1108/01409170610674419.
AbuAlRub RF, Al-Zaru IM. Job stress, recognition, job performance and intention to stay at work among
Jordanian hospital nurses. J Nurs Manag. 2008; 16(3): 227-36. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2834.2007.00810.
PMID: 18324981.
Khadka DK, Gurung M, Chaulagain N. Managerial competencies–A survey of hospital managers’ working
in Kathmandu valley, Nepal. Journal of Hospital Administration. 2014; 3(1): 62. doi: 10.5430/jha.v3n1p62.
Pillay R. The skills gap in hospital management: a comparative analysis of hospital managers in the public
and private sectors in South Africa. Health Serv Manage Res. 2010; 23(1): 30-6. doi:
1258/hsmr.2009.009015. PMID: 20150608.
Tabibi SJ, Nasiripoor A, Zahiri Abyaneh Z. Relationship Between Managers Communication Skill and
Staff Motivation in Modarres Hospital of Tehran. Hospital Journal. 2013; 12(2): 73-80.
Filerman GL. Closing the management competence gap. Hum Resour Health. 2003; 1(7): 1-3. doi:
1186/1478-4491-1-7. PMCID: PMC270080.
Terzic-Supic Z, Bjegovic-Mikanovic V, Vukovic D, Santric-Milicevic M, Marinkovic J, Vasic V, et al.
Training hospital managers for strategic planning and management: a prospective study. BMC Med Educ.
; 15(1): 25. doi: 10.1186/s12909-015-0310-9. PMID: 25889166, PMCID: PMC4355452.
Whetsell GW. The history and evolution of hospital payment systems: how did we get here? Nurs Adm Q.
; 23(4): 1-15. PMID: 10711138.
Lingham T, Richley B, Rezania D. An evaluation system for training programs: a case study using a four- phase approach. Career development international. 2006; 11(4): 334-51. doi:
1108/13620430610672540.
Davies S. Health services management education: why and what? J Health Organ Manag. 2006; 20(4): 325- 34. PMID: 16921816.
Gregory D, Baigelman W, Wilson IB. Hospital economics of the hospitalist. Health Serv Res. 2003; 38(3):
-18. PMID: 12822918, PMCID: PMC1360922.
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2020 KNOWLEDGE KINGDOM PUBLISHING
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
