Management of Healthcare Organizations: An Introduction, Fourth Edition

To become a successful healthcare manager, students need to understand management theories and methods and know how to apply them to real-world problems. Management of Healthcare Organizations: An Introduction teaches this in an engaging way. The authors provide aspiring managers with theoretical background, practical methods, and hands-on exercises to prepare for careers in healthcare management, emphasizing the multifaceted nature of management problems and the need to combine a variety of approaches to solve them.

This straightforward text includes bulleted lists, examples, activities, exhibits, and exercises to boost readability, retention, and engagement. Chapters are arranged to sequentially build a body of knowledge and a mental framework for management. Each chapter begins with a scenario taken from the same complex telehealth case study, reinforcing the complexity of management problems while introducing chapter concepts. This book is applicable to a wide range of healthcare organizations and combines time-tested fundamental principles with cutting-edge methods and current knowledge.

Each chapter in this new edition has updated information on diversity, equity, and inclusion, and strategies for managing clinical staff and performance, as well as “Try It, Apply It” real-world exercises. The book includes new and expanded content on topics such as:

• Key theories of management
• Project performance domains and principles
• The five categories of strategy
• Medical staff responsibilities, structure, and bylaws
• Creation of effective virtual teams
• Artificial intelligence in healthcare organizations
• Employee engagement
• Orientation of remote workers
• Motivating a diverse workforce
• Plan-do-study-act (PDSA) cycle, Lean, and Six Sigma
• COVID-19 response and impacts
• Burnout and psychological safety

End-of-chapter case study questions relate to the seven cases at the back of the book, including a new case involving a clinical care unit. Applying tools from multiple chapters to the same case study helps students realize that to fully solve management problems, they must use multiple kinds of tools and methods—just like today’s managers do. Each chapter ends with an ongoing real-world mini-case study and questions. The book concludes with a glossary, a list of ten suggested hands-on projects to help students use and integrate chapters, and a management toolbox that contains all the management tools taught throughout the text.

By studying Management of Healthcare Organizations: An Introduction, students will acquire the knowledge and skills necessary to analyze managerial problems and develop practical solutions in health care organizations.

About the Author

Peter C. Olden, PhD, MHA, LFACHE, earned a BS in business from Miami University and an MHA from Duke University. For 14 years, he held executive positions at a community hospital, a teaching hospital, and a regional medical center. Initiating a career change, he completed a PhD in health services organization and research at Virginia Commonwealth University and then joined the faculty at the University of Scranton (Pennsylvania). There, Dr. Olden became a full professor and also served as a program director and department chair. He taught undergraduate and graduate healthcare management courses for many years, including the undergraduate and graduate capstone courses. His teaching included healthcare management lectures and workshops abroad. Dr. Olden’s scholarship produced dozens of journal articles, book chapters, and other publications plus numerous conference presentations, workshops, and discussions. He contributed voluntary service to many professional, educational, and health-related organizations. In 2018 he retired and is now a professor emeritus.

Cathleen O. Erwin, PhD, is an associate professor of health administration at Auburn University and serves as chair of the Department of Political Science. Previously she was director of Auburn’s undergraduate health services administration program for many years. She has been recognized by the Academy of Management’s Health Care Management division and the Auburn University College of Liberal Arts with their Teaching Excellence Awards. Prior to her academic career, Dr. Erwin spent 25 years working for nonprofit organizations in the arts, healthcare, and higher education.