Editorial

Citation

(2012), "Editorial", Journal of Health Organization and Management, Vol. 26 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/jhom.2012.02526aaa.001

Editorial

Article Type: Editorial From: Journal of Health Organization and Management, Volume 26, Issue 1

Introducing the Viewpoints section

The editorial team would like to welcome readers to the first edition of JHOM in 2012. As we have previously announced we will be introducing some new sections to the journal this year. The first of these is the “Viewpoints” section which has been introduced to provide a high level review of the major debates and evidence in relation to particular topic areas that we think will be of interest to the JHOM readership. Articles will summarise what is known to date about these topics as well as identifying the major unanswered research questions. These articles are intended to be discursive (rather than formal/systematic in approach). Ultimately the intention is to provide an “expert commentary” on the theme in question.

We envisage that these articles will be useful as teaching resources and also provide a summary of the state of the knowledge on important topics. We have commissioned a number of individuals to write articles on topics such as medical tourism, clinical leadership, public health and evidence-based management. The editors would also welcome suggestions of topics for this section.

In this issue the viewpoints section is written by Professor Naomi Chambers who provides her views on Healthcare Boards governance. Naomi Chambers is professor of health policy and management and head of the health group at Manchester Business School at the University of Manchester. In her article Naomi examines the construction, dynamics and focus of healthcare boards and identifies some of the salient issues in relation to each of these areas.

Other articles in this issue

JHOM continues its commitment to international perspectives, with this issue seeing contributions from Norway, Switzerland, The USA, Australia, Germany and Finland. Brief details of each of the articles in this edition are outlined below in relation to the three major themes that underpin this collection of papers.

Managerial practices and approaches to the delivery of health care

The article by Pettersen and Nyland examines the response of clinical managers to the Norwegian Hospital Enterprise Reform highlighting some of the gaps between the intended government policy and the actual interpretation and delivery (of policy) by clinical managers locally. The article by Hujala and Rissanen uses social constructionist and discursive perspectives of management to understand and define how the polyphony of management is constructed in interaction – with particular focus on micro level management practices.

Institutional and organisational factors

The work by Mitchell and Pattison highlights the challenge of organisational culture and its importance to intersectoral collaboration in mental health care. The article by Goldberg uses institutional theory to explain relationships between innovations in primary care practices and institutional forces within the external environment. Findings from this study suggest that the adoption of innovative practices in primary care is bound by major constraints of limited resources and influenced by patients and other stakeholders.

Changing demographics

An aging population and the increase in the number of older employees in future work forces could well impact on work force planning and delivery of health care. While much research has been undertaken to explore the influence of age as a demographic attribute, less is known about the impact of age related attitudes on relationship quality and performance. Work by Gellert and Schalk reports on how age-related attitudes affect perceived relationship quality, as well as how both factors affect perceived work performance. In their article Hofer et al. provide a review of the current research around the concept of “health tourism” along with empirical evidence on health tourism in Switzerland. While their work is exploratory in nature it does highlight the emergence of new health care markets. Furthermore it highlights the need for future research to explore the positioning and development of health tourism and the impact this could have on the cost and delivery of health care.

Call for special issue ideas

The editorial team are currently in the process of setting out the plans for special issues of JHOM for 2013 and 2014. If you have any ideas for relevant topics or are interested in editing a special issue of JHOM then please contact us at JHOM@contacts.bham.ac.uk