History Of Healthcare Management
Introduction
Healthcare management has come a long way. Most of us have only the doctors and nurses in mind when we think of a hospital setting. However, there are numerous other professionals who work behind the scenes of whom in most instances we don’t get to see. These are the healthcare managers or in other terms administrators. In the earlier days of healthcare management, those who were responsible for hospital management and administration were referred to as superintendents and were mainly sourced from the nursing field. Today, most of that has changed. We now have professionals trained to deal with hospital finances, patient records as well as other administrative work. These are the modern day healthcare managers.In this text, I look at the history of healthcare management with a brief look at how healthcare management has evolved from where it was at the beginning of the century to where it is now.
The century’s early part
In the beginning of the twentieth century, most patients received their healthcare from their homes. This was necessitated by the inability of hospitals to deal with some health cases as well as make a visible improvement of people’s health. However this was a preserve of the rich and those who were not wealthy could not be able to pay for these services.Hospitalization was increasingly for those who could not afford to receive treatment from the comfort of their homes the vast majority of whom were poor. According to Walshe et al. (2006), from the late 18’s to the early 90’s hospital numbers grew from about 160 to more than 7000. This was largely informed by the advent of modern day surgery which made hospitals abodes to ease as well as relive suffering.As noted earlier, hospital managers in this period were referred to as superintendents and their academic backgrounds had little or nothing to do with management. Most of them were individuals with just the preliquisite medical training and most of them were members of the American Hospital Association. Walshe et al. (2006) says that the first relevant hospital administration training was initially started in 1900 in New York at ColumbiaTeachers College.
This program was health economics.Shortly after, at MarquetteUniversity, Father Moulinier pioneered the first undergraduate hospital administration course. This course however failed to pick up after a while as a result of shortage of those enrolling. However this was not the last effort for the establishment of a course on hospital administration.According to Walshe et al. (2006), Michael David came up with a book that outlined a curriculum for a two year undergraduate course and hospital administration. This was in 1929. This course concentrated mainly on social sciences, accounts, statistical analysis as well as economics in its first study year. The second year of study was designed to incorporate subjects like public health as well as labor relations. This was also about the same time that saw the formation of what we today know as The American College of Healthcare Executives.In 1934, Michael Davis was appointed the head of a degree course on hospital ministration by university of Chicago. This course was a brainchild of Michael’s curriculum suggestion earlier on. This course opened the door for numerous other courses related to health administration not only in ChicagoUniversity but also in other education institutions like New York’s CornellUniversity (Walshe et al. 2006).Since then, there has been a considerable increase in the range of academic courses on healthcare management. This is what necessitated the formation of Association of University Programs in Health Administration in 1948. This was a conglomeration of various graduate courses on health care management and administration.
Recent developments
Recently the area of healthcare management has experienced dynamic changes. According to Buchbinder el al. (2007), some of the changes that has in one way or the other have been felt in the healthcare management field include; an increase in the size and complexity of hospitals, the advent of communication and technology, the current changes in healthcare financing and the increasing government role in healthcare issues. As Buchbinder el al. (2007) puts it, healthcare managers are now charged with more diverse roles than before.To begin with they are charged with the financial well being of various healthcare centers and establishments. They direct the human resource function in the hospital setting as well as other roles such as cost accounting, strategic management etc.Next, in the current day scenario, healthcare managers are charged with the responsibility of coming up with approachesd to provide services to the most vulnerable people in the society considering that some cannot afford basic treatment for some health complications.Health managers in the current day scenario must hence come up with a way avail services even to disadvantaged individuals in the community while remaining cost effective. Lastly healthcare providers are charged with the duty of maintaining the social as well as social at the hospital setting. They should stand up for patients rights and arbitrate and disputes occurring between healthcares providers and patients.
It is important to note that these three aspects should act as a guide for healthcare managers even in today’s hostile and tough organizational environment (Shlian et al. 2001)
It is also important to note that healthcare managers are faced with more challenges than a decade ago. Some of the most urgent challenges have been identified as:
Shortage of qualified healthcare staff such as nurses and other skilled healthcare employees.
Apparent deterioration in the quality and provision of healthcare services.
Increasing costs of providing healthcare services
A worrying level of citizens who do not have any form of health insurance.
Despite the challenges listed above it is good to note that that are ready to make an impact in the society. As Shlian et al. (2001) notes, the real benefit of healthcare executives comes not in the amount of compensation they get but rather from the feeling of fulfillment as a result of knowing that one is contributing positively to peoples as well as the community wellbeing.
Healthcare management today
In the modern day, healthcare continues to be regarded highly. The previous view of hospitals as nothing more than medical institutions have been replaced with a realization that they are also economic entities. This has brought many to the realization that in that case, there is need to hire managers who can be able to bring together the economic as well as social insights involved in the modern day health care administration and management. As a measure of how far healthcare management has come it makes sense to consider the following information from the AmericanHospital association. It claims that today, we have:
- More than 5000 hospitals that are registered.
- More than 9000,000 hospital beds that are staffed in various hospitals registered in the U.S.
Conclusion
From the above text, it is quite clear that healthcare management ha come a long way. It is important to note that the current trends in healthcare management provide opportunities for both those who want to pursue healthcare management as a career as well as for those who use the healthcare services.This is because the incorporation of healthcare management in the dissemination as well as provision of healthcare services helps to enhance the efficiency as well as effectiveness of the healthcare system.
References
Buchbinder, S.B & Shanks N.H (2007). Introduction to health care management Jones & Bartlett Learning
Shlian, D. & Patterson, C. (2001). New frontiers in healthcare management: MBAs evolving in the business of healthcare. Writers Club Press
Walshe, K & Smith, J. (2006). Healthcare Management. Open University Press
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