Medical Professionals Designing Hospital Management Models

Health care administration in many OECD countries has undergone substantial changes in recent years as a consequence of NPM reforms, rising costs, the pace of technological innovation, heightened competition for patients and resources, quality of managed care and demographic shifts. Hospitals especially have been reformed due to the high proportion of resources they absorb and the apparent difficulty of prioritizing and coordinating health care within hospitals. There is abundant research literature on the topic of reforming hospital management models. Lacking from the literature, however, is insight into how we can understand and explain how medical professionals adapt hospital management over time in relation to changing hospital management models that are global in their influence in hospital organizations. The aim of this dissertation is to understand and explain how medical professionals adapt, interpret and negotiate hospital management over time in relation to changing hospital management models in hospital organizations in the Nordic health system context, illustrated by the Danish health system.