The need for management education of healthcare management employees

Int J Health Plann Manage. 2022 Jan;37(1):301-317. doi: 10.1002/hpm.3325. Epub 2021 Sep 28.

Abstract

Given the wide professional discussion on the dominating professional focus of healthcare managers at the expense of management knowledge, the main goal of this paper is to verify the extent, to which management education of healthcare workers affects the level of their management skills.

Methodology: The Descriptive statistics methods have been used to answer research questions regarding the differences in the perception of the managerial skills and their disposition importance between managers with a completed management education and without it. Emphasis was placed on people management skills and communication skills. The research sample consisted of 253 healthcare managers.

Results: Managers with a completed specialized management study are characterized by higher values of entrepreneurial competences and communication skills. They also have exceptional skills in the area of initiator of change. Another significant difference is the higher adaptation of roles and low critique of their subordinates. They are oriented at workers and relationships with them.

Conclusion: Our results show that management education of healthcare managers significantly contributes to the implementation of newer approaches to people management and the use of the necessary management skills, which are a source of higher efficiency in the context of the present world of work and its challenges.

Keywords: healthcare; management education; management skills; manager.

MeSH terms

  • Delivery of Health Care*
  • Health Personnel*
  • Humans