Health Care Research and Organization Theory

Abstract

In this Element, we examine how organizational researchers have published articles contributing to organization theory in highquality organizational journals, and we examine how healthcare researchers have drawn on organization theory in healthcare management journals. We have two main aims in writing this Element.The first is to motivate scholars working in the field of general organizational and management studies to increasingly use healthcare settings as an empirical context for their work in theory development. Our second aim is to encourage healthcare researchers to increase their use of organizational theory to advance knowledge about the provision of healthcare services. Our investigations revealed a growing number of organizational studies situated in healthcare. We also found a disappointing level of connection between research published in organization journals and research published in healthcare journals. We provide explanations for this division, and encourage more crossdisciplinary work in the future.

The concept of disability and its causal mechanisms in older people over time from a theoretical perspective: a literature review

“…Providing interventions that address both the individual and the environment requires new roles and tasks of professionals, strong collaboration among all partners involved in the care process and funding models that facilitate the new way of working. Consequently, despite attempts to shift the focus towards this new perspective, it remains a challenge to change existing organizational structures and achieve successful behavioural change of health care professionals (Ajani and Moez 2011 ; Reay et al 2021 ). Ultimately, this also explains why currently there is still a big gap between theory and practice.…”

Through the looking glass

“…As Muzio and Doh (2021) point out, COVID-19 has “exposed and reinforced” the multilevel and cross-sector interdependencies that exist within our current world while at the same time highlighting divisions. In health care, this interdependence is more exacerbated as organizations operate in an increasingly resource-constrained environment ( Reay et al, 2021 ) and health care delivery becomes more complex and multidisciplinary. However, although our data indicate that collaboration is becoming increasingly necessary for organizations to remain responsive to environmental demands ( Alami et al, 2021 ; see also Mayo et al, 2021 , for a full review), competition remains a driving force in many systems as a means to improve efficiency and consumer choice.…”

“…In the following sections, we begin by identifying key themes that were prevalent in emergent work in the onset of COVID-19. Although it is beyond the scope of the present article to provide an overview of key themes in health care management more generally, three recent reviews of the field offer useful insights in this regard ( Mayo et al, 2021 ; Reay et al, 2021 ; Zengul et al, 2022 ). We conclude by emphasizing the need for more empirical work to move beyond COVID-19-specific strategies and help guide the formulation of a research agenda to meet our most pressing challenges for the future.…”

“…Although studies have attempted to draw lessons from the crisis at different levels of analysis (i.e., organizational vs. health system level), initial insights share several common themes (see Mayo et al, 2021 ; Reay et al, 2021 , for a full overview of literature and topics in health care management literature more generally). Taken together, initial scholarly work during the pandemic points to six main categories that are relevant for health care management both within and beyond crisis: (a) human resources (e.g., training, staffing, staff well-being, retention), (b) operations (e.g., reconfiguration of resources to adjust to shifting demand, supplies), (c) team dynamics (e.g., interpersonal and interprofessional relationships and team climate), (d) external collaboration (e.g., cross-sector and regional collaborations), (e) leadership (approach to leadership, delegation of tasks, decision-making), and (f) innovation (i.e., finding solutions to novel problems, digital tools; see Table 1 ).…”

“…In health care, literature on professional labor and managing professionals (Freidson, 1988;Yanchus et al, 2020) may offer useful insights (and raise important questions) for researchers in the postpandemic world (Hoff, 2021). This aforementioned body of literature has detailed the importance of valuing the tacit knowledge and skills of physicians, the well-being and human resource benefits of granting physicians high levels of autonomy and influence (Hoff et al, 2021), and how to manage and work with this unique type of worker (Reay et al, 2021). Our results reveal that these factors may also pertain to a broader group of occupational groups, for example, the benefits of granting nurses and residents more autonomy and responsibility were shared clearly throughout the crisis.…”