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Advances in Health Care Management (AHCM) is a research annual that publishes state-of-the-art reviews and research on special topics in the field of health care management. As conceived by the founding coeditors, John D. Blair (Texas Tech University), Myron D. Fottler (University of Central Florida), and Grant T. Savage (University of Alabama at Birmingham), and as originally commissioned by JAI Press, AHCM provides a forum for leading research on health care management. Volumes 1–3 offer reviews of the field, research on selected topics, and best papers from the Health Care Management Division of the Academy of Management. In contrast, volumes 4–7 focus on a range of special topics, from bioterrorism to international health care management to entrepreneurship to patient safety.

Organizational change has been a consistent and growing theme in health care management, and research on the topic reflects this interest. Amid continuously rising health care costs, major regulatory and policy reform, and technological evolution, health care executives continue to search for effective models and methods of leading and directing change to position their organizations in an increasingly unstable industry and sector. As industry leaders look for answers, researchers have shown a growing interest in understanding how health care organizations are evolving to fit the needs of the new marketplace.

It is widely acknowledged that the delivery of health care has been made more complex by a number of factors including technology, information, organizational arrangements, and the increasing burden of chronic illness. This increase in complexity has underscored the need for more effective teamwork and working relationships among health care providers. Although professional education groups such as the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) have mandated competencies such as “work effectively as a member or leader of a health care team or other professional group” since at least 2007, it is clear from both research and anecdotal accounts that there is still room for significant development in this area.

Health care in the United States is on the verge of substantial change. Health reform legislation, and the goals it seeks to pursue, are likely to drive transformational change across many corners of the health care system. Preparing for and navigating these changes will, in turn, require health care leaders to learn new approaches to many of the core parts of their jobs (Clark, Savitz, & Pingree, 2010; Shortell & Casalino, 2010). The sheer magnitude of change and uncertainty also seems a likely driver of the uptick in CEO retirement, which rose almost to an annual rate of 18% in 2009, the highest rate increase since the American College of Health care Executives began tracking the statistic in 1981 (American College of Healthcare Executives, 2010). Taken together, these trends suggest the need for leadership development and succession planning has never been greater.