Realising integrative care by delegation: The hospital physician
Journal of Health Organization and Management
ISSN: 1477-7266
Article publication date: 1 April 2004
Abstract
Hospital managers are constantly confronted with capacity and continuity problems that tempt them to investigate the possibility of further job differentiation. In The Netherlands, the hospital physician represents a new breed of physicians who are not oriented towards a medical specialism but towards a patient domain. The hospital physician represents a controversial kind of job differentiation that is expected to stimulate more continuity. This case study shows how medical specialists themselves are starting to address the fragmentation caused by specialization. According to the professionals involved, the hospital physician constitutes a solution that does not threaten their professional values. They report a number of ways in which this job type can contribute to solving the problems reported. However, concerns have been raised about the risks of developing these new jobs without changing the existing professional and work structures.
Keywords
Citation
van Offenbeek, M.A.G. (2004), "Realising integrative care by delegation: The hospital physician", Journal of Health Organization and Management, Vol. 18 No. 2, pp. 111-127. https://doi.org/10.1108/14777260410538898
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2004, Emerald Group Publishing Limited