TY - JOUR
T1 - Interprofessional care teams
T2 - The role of the healthcare administrator
AU - Begun, James W.
AU - White, Kenneth R.
AU - Mosser, Gordon
PY - 2011/3
Y1 - 2011/3
N2 - As the delivery of healthcare services increasingly emphasizes interprofessional activity, one major occupation, healthcare administration, is conspicuously absent from the discussion. This situation reflects the structure of healthcare delivery organizations as professional bureaucracies, with clinical professionals practicing with relative autonomy and with administrators viewed as quasi- or semi-professionals. Not only is this a missed opportunity for administrators, but it seriously weakens the potential for change and improvement promised by interprofessional practice. In this article, we argue that healthcare administrators are important to the success of interprofessional care because they often are in a strong position to champion and implement the system-wide cultural and structural conditions for successful interprofessional care. We also note that changes are needed in the role expectations and education of healthcare administrators to increase the familiarity and comfort of administrators with clinical care and to help them more effectively influence the organizational conditions for collaborative interprofessional exchange. Changes in the expectations and education of clinical professionals also will help accomplish the goal of greater "complementarity" between administrators and clinical healthcare professionals. Such changes are consistent with larger societal forces that are increasing professionalism among administrators and creating more accountability from both administrators and clinical professionals for the quality, cost, and collaboration of services.
AB - As the delivery of healthcare services increasingly emphasizes interprofessional activity, one major occupation, healthcare administration, is conspicuously absent from the discussion. This situation reflects the structure of healthcare delivery organizations as professional bureaucracies, with clinical professionals practicing with relative autonomy and with administrators viewed as quasi- or semi-professionals. Not only is this a missed opportunity for administrators, but it seriously weakens the potential for change and improvement promised by interprofessional practice. In this article, we argue that healthcare administrators are important to the success of interprofessional care because they often are in a strong position to champion and implement the system-wide cultural and structural conditions for successful interprofessional care. We also note that changes are needed in the role expectations and education of healthcare administrators to increase the familiarity and comfort of administrators with clinical care and to help them more effectively influence the organizational conditions for collaborative interprofessional exchange. Changes in the expectations and education of clinical professionals also will help accomplish the goal of greater "complementarity" between administrators and clinical healthcare professionals. Such changes are consistent with larger societal forces that are increasing professionalism among administrators and creating more accountability from both administrators and clinical professionals for the quality, cost, and collaboration of services.
KW - Health administration
KW - health services administration
KW - healthcare management
KW - interprofessional care teams
KW - professions
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=79751491797&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=79751491797&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3109/13561820.2010.504135
DO - 10.3109/13561820.2010.504135
M3 - Article
C2 - 20846046
AN - SCOPUS:79751491797
SN - 1356-1820
VL - 25
SP - 119
EP - 123
JO - Journal of interprofessional care
JF - Journal of interprofessional care
IS - 2
ER -