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1 – 10 of over 32000Jillian C. Sweeney, Pennie Frow, Adrian Payne and Janet R. McColl-Kennedy
The purpose of this study is to examine how servicescapes impact well-being and satisfaction of both hospital customers (patients) and health care professional service providers.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to examine how servicescapes impact well-being and satisfaction of both hospital customers (patients) and health care professional service providers.
Design/methodology/approach
The study investigates how a hospital servicescape impacts two critical outcomes – well-being and satisfaction – of both hospital patients (customers) and health care professionals, who are immersed in that environment.
Findings
The hospital servicescape had a greater impact on physical, psychological and existential well-being for professionals than for patients. However, the reverse was true for satisfaction. The new servicescape enhanced the satisfaction and physical and psychological well-being of professionals but only the satisfaction of customers.
Research limitations/implications
The study implications for health care policy suggest that investment in health care-built environments should balance the needs of health care professionals with those of customers to benefit their collective well-being and satisfaction.
Practical implications
Based on the findings, the authors propose that servicescape investments should focus on satisfying the physical needs of patients while also placing emphasis on the psychological needs of professionals.
Social implications
Health care spending on physical facilities should incorporate careful cost-benefit analysis, ensuring that beneficial features for both user groups are included in new hospital designs, omitting features that are less supportive of well-being.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to compare the impact of the same real-life servicescape on the satisfaction of both customers and service providers (professionals) and considers the critical health outcome of well-being.
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Rikke Amalie Agergaard Jensen, Charlotte Jonasson, Martin Gartmeier and Jaana Parviainen
The purpose of this study is to investigate how professionals learn from varying experiences with errors in health-care digitalization and develop and use negative knowledge and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to investigate how professionals learn from varying experiences with errors in health-care digitalization and develop and use negative knowledge and digital ignorance in efforts to improve digitalized health care.
Design/methodology/approach
A two-year qualitative field study was conducted in the context of a public health-care organization working with digital patient communication. The data consisted of participant observation, semistructured interviews and document data. Inductive coding and a theoretically informed generation of themes were applied.
Findings
The findings show that both health-care and digital communication professionals learn through experiences with digital “rule-” and “knowledge-based” errors in patient communication and develop negative knowledge and awareness of digital ignorance. In their joint efforts, they use negative knowledge to “bend the rules” and to explore digital ignorance in efforts to improve patient communication.
Originality/value
This study provides insight into the importance of collaboration between professionals with varying experience of errors in digitalizing patient communication. Such collaboration is required to acknowledge own shortcomings and create complementary negative knowledge to improve digital patient communication. This is particularly important when working with innovative digitalization in health care.
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Louise Bell, Reva Berman Brown and Barbara Morris
The National Health Service (NHS) has many different kinds ofprofessionals and managers working underneath its large umbrella:non‐clinical managers administer the work of…
Abstract
The National Health Service (NHS) has many different kinds of professionals and managers working underneath its large umbrella: non‐clinical managers administer the work of health‐care professionals, who in turn are concerned with the management of patients’ treatments. Delivery of health‐care services involves the managers and professionals working together to achieve a service that is good for, and acceptable to, patients. A change in the philosophy of the NHS is indicated by the growing acceptance, by both managers and professionals, of the necessity to elicit the views of patients (i.e. the expectations and perceptions of service users) and to incorporate these views into the planning and implementation of services. Discusses one such attempt to elicit the perceptions of service users, and reports on the preliminary findings of a patient‐centred audit which has been undertaken in Southend Community Care Services NHS Trust. Discusses the effects that the audit has had on the chiropody services in Southend, for both non‐clinical managers and health‐care professionals, in order to highlight the usefulness of the approach.
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Denise L. Anthony and Timothy Stablein
The purpose of this paper is to explore different health care professionals’ discourse about privacy – its definition and importance in health care, and its role in their…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore different health care professionals’ discourse about privacy – its definition and importance in health care, and its role in their day-to-day work. Professionals’ discourse about privacy reveals how new technologies and laws challenge existing practices of information control within and between professional groups in health care, with implications not only for patient privacy, but also for the role of information control in professions more generally.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors conducted in-depth, semi-structured interviews with n=83 doctors, nurses, and health information professionals in two academic medical centers and one veteran’s administration hospital/clinic in the Northeastern USA. Interview responses were qualitatively coded for themes and patterns across groups were identified.
Findings
The health care providers and the authors studied actively sought to uphold the protection (and control) of patient information through professional ethics and practices, as well as through the use of technologies and compliance with legal regulations. They used discourses of professionalism, as well as of law and technology, to sometimes accept and sometimes resist changes to practice required in the changing technological and legal context of health care. The authors found differences across professional groups; for some, protection of patient information is part of core professional ethics, while for others it is simply part of their occupational work, aligned with organizational interests.
Research limitations/implications
This qualitative study of physicians, nurses, and health information professionals revealed some differences in views and practices for protecting patient information in the changing technological and legal context of health care that suggest some professional groups (doctors) may be more likely to resist such changes and others (health information professionals) will actively adopt them.
Practical implications
New technologies and regulations are changing how information is used in health care delivery, challenging professional practices for the control of patient information that may change the value or meaning of medical records for different professional groups.
Originality/value
Qualitative findings suggest that professional groups in health care vary in the extent of information control they have, as well in how they view such control. Some groups may be more likely to (be able to) resist changes in the professional control of information that stem from new technologies or regulatory policies. Some professionals recognize that new IT systems and regulations challenge existing social control of information in health care, with the potential to undermine (or possibly bolster) professional self-control for some but not necessarily all occupational groups.
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Gillian Hogg, Angus Laing and Dan Winkelman
This paper considers the impact of the Internet on professional services, which are characterised by high levels of interpersonal interaction and where a significant component of…
Abstract
This paper considers the impact of the Internet on professional services, which are characterised by high levels of interpersonal interaction and where a significant component of the service product is information and expertise. For such services the Internet is primarily an accessible information resource, which has potential to fundamentally change the way in which consumers interact with service providers. The context for the research is healthcare, a professional service that has traditionally been characterised by an information asymmetry that has rested power in the hands of the professional. Based on interviews with healthcare professionals, Web site hosts and consumers, this paper considers the way in which consumers use the Internet to educate themselves about their condition and the consequent effect on the service encounter and the doctor/patient relationship. The findings indicate that patients are increasingly engaging in virtual, parallel service encounters that change the nature of the primary encounter and present challenges to professionals both in terms of relationships and their professional judgement.
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Claudia Araujo, Marina Siqueira and Liliana Amaral
Health-care professionals are caring for patients in unprecedented circumstances during the COVID-19 pandemic, dealing with scarce resources, higher demand and uncertain outcomes…
Abstract
Purpose
Health-care professionals are caring for patients in unprecedented circumstances during the COVID-19 pandemic, dealing with scarce resources, higher demand and uncertain outcomes. In this context, the purpose of this study is to explore the views of health-care professionals regarding their work conditions and perceived impacts of the pandemic on their health, as well as the role of resilience and improvisation in face of the new challenges.
Design/methodology/approach
This exploratory and qualitative study carried out semi-structured interviews with eleven health-care professionals from three Brazilian states that have been working in intensive care settings during the pandemic.
Findings
The pandemic has posed a great personal and professional burden on the professionals, impacting their physical and mental health. It also has required them greater resilience and improvisation capabilities to adequately perform work-related activities.
Practical implications
In addition to individual-level attitudes, the results suggest that aspects in the government, society, personal relationships and providers domains influence the effects of the pandemic on the health-care professionals and how they cope with the ongoing crisis. Such a multifactorial approach should therefore be considered by health managers.
Originality/value
With no similar effort identified, this study emphasizes the relevance of discussing the pandemic burden on frontline professionals and intends to be useful for health practitioners, managers, academics and policymakers.
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Due to its ability to support well-informed decision-making, business intelligence (BI) has grown in popularity among executives across a range of industries. However, given the…
Abstract
Purpose
Due to its ability to support well-informed decision-making, business intelligence (BI) has grown in popularity among executives across a range of industries. However, given the volume of data collected in health-care organizations, there is a lack of exploration concerning its implementation. Consequently, this research paper aims to investigate the key factors affecting the acceptance and use of BI in healthcare organizations.
Design/methodology/approach
Leveraging the theoretical lens of the “unified theory of acceptance and use of technology” (UTAUT), a study framework was proposed and integrated with three context-related factors, including “rational decision-making culture” (RDC), “perceived threat to professional autonomy” (PTA) and “medical–legal risk” (MLR). The variables in the study framework were categorized as follows: information systems (IS) perspective; organizational perspective; and user perspective. In Jordan, 434 healthcare professionals participated in a cross-sectional online survey that was used to collect data.
Findings
The findings of the “structural equation modeling” revealed that professionals’ behavioral intentions toward using BI systems were significantly affected by performance expectancy, social influence, facilitating conditions, MLR, RDC and PTA. Also, an insignificant effect of PTA on PE was found based on the results of statistical analysis. These variables explained 68% of the variance (R2) in the individuals’ intentions to use BI-based health-care systems.
Practical implications
To promote the acceptance and use of BI technology in health-care settings, developers, designers, service providers and decision-makers will find this study to have a number of practical implications. Additionally, it will support the development of effective strategies and BI-based health-care systems based on these study results, attracting the interest of many users.
Originality/value
To the best of the author’s knowledge, this is one of the first studies that integrates the UTAUT model with three contextual factors (RDC, PTA and MLR) in addition to examining the suggested framework in a developing nation (Jordan). This study is one of the few in which the users’ acceptance behavior of BI systems was investigated in a health-care setting. More specifically, to the best of the author’s knowledge, this is the first study that reveals the critical antecedents of individuals’ intention to accept BI for health-care purposes in the Jordanian context.
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Louise Kippist and Anneke Fitzgerald
This article aims to examine tensions between hybrid clinician managers' professional values and health care organisations' management objectives.
Abstract
Purpose
This article aims to examine tensions between hybrid clinician managers' professional values and health care organisations' management objectives.
Design/methodology/approach
Data are from interviews conducted with, and observation of, 14 managerial participants in a Cancer Therapy Unit set in a large teaching hospital in New South Wales, Australia, who participated in a Clinical Leadership Development Program.
Findings
The data indicate that there are tensions experienced by members of the health care organisation when a hybrid clinician manager appears to abandon the managerial role for the clinical role. The data also indicate that when a hybrid clinician manager takes on a managerial role other members of the health care organisation are required concomitantly to increase their clinical roles.
Research limitations/implications
Although the research was represented by a small sample and was limited to one department of a health care organisation, it is possible that other members of health care organisations experience similar situations when they work with hybrid clinician managers. Other research supports the findings. Also, this paper reports on data that emerged from a research project that was evaluating a Clinical Leadership Development Program. The research was not specifically focused on organisational professional conflict in health care organisations.
Practical implications
This paper shows that the role of the hybrid clinician manager may not bring with it the organisational effectiveness that the role was perceived to have. Hybrid clinician managers abandoning their managerial role for their clinical role may mean that some managerial work is not done. Increasing the workload of other clinical members of the health care organisation may not be optimal for the health care organisation.
Originality/value
Organisational professional conflict, as a result of hybridity and divergent managerial and clinical objectives, can cause conflict which affects other organisational members and this conflict may have implications for the efficiency of the health care organisation. The extension or duality of organisational professional conflict that causes interpersonal or group conflict in other members of the organisation, to the authors' knowledge, has not yet been researched.
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Antti Rautiainen, Toni Mättö, Kari Sippola and Jukka O. Pellinen
This article analyzes the cognitive microfoundations, conflicting institutional logics and professional hybridization in a case characterized by conflict.
Abstract
Purpose
This article analyzes the cognitive microfoundations, conflicting institutional logics and professional hybridization in a case characterized by conflict.
Design/methodology/approach
In contrast to the majority of earlier studies focusing on special health care, the study was conducted in a Finnish basic health care organization. The empirical data include 36 interviews, accounting reports, budgets, newspaper articles and meeting notes collected 2013–2018.
Findings
The use of accounting techniques in this case did not offer professionals sufficient support under conditions of conflict. The authors suggest that this perceived lack of support intensified the negative emotions toward accounting techniques. These negative emotions aggregated into incompatible professional-level institutional logics, which contributed to the lack of hybridization between such logics. The authors highlight the importance of the cognitive microfoundations, that is, the individual-level interpretations and emotional responses, in the analysis of conflicting institutional logics.
Practical implications
Managerial attention needs to be directed to accounting practices perceived as frustrating or threatening, a perception that can prevent the use of accounting techniques in the creation of professional hybrids. The Finnish basic health care context involves inconsistent political decision-making, multiple tasks, three institutional logics and individual interpretations and emotions in various decision-making situations.
Originality/value
This study develops microfoundational accounting research by illustrating how individual-level cognitive microfoundations such as dissatisfaction with budgeting, aggregate into professional-level institutional logics, and in our case, prevent professional hybridization in a basic health care setting characterized by conflict and three separate institutional logics.
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Shahram Sedghi, Mark Sanderson and Paul Clough
Medicine is heavily dependent on images and health care professionals use medical images for clinical, educational and research purposes. This paper aims to investigate the…
Abstract
Purpose
Medicine is heavily dependent on images and health care professionals use medical images for clinical, educational and research purposes. This paper aims to investigate the resources used by health care professionals while searching for medical images.
Design/methodology/approach
The research is based on a qualitative study that uses the Straussian version of grounded theory and involved 29 health care professionals from various health and biomedical departments working within Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS (National Health Service) Foundation Trust. Data collection was carried out using semi‐structured interviews and think‐aloud protocols.
Findings
The findings show that health care professionals seek medical images in a variety of visual information sources, including those found online and from published medical literature. The research also identified a number of difficulties that health care professionals face when searching for medical images in various image resources.
Originality/value
There have been few studies that investigated the image resources used by health care professionals. Thus, this study contributes to the understanding of medical image resources and information needs of health care professionals. A clear understanding of the medical image information needs of health care professionals is also vital to the design process and development of medical image retrieval systems.
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