Healthcare Organizations & Their Environments

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1. Exploring the art and science of management in healthcare. Would you agree that the 'art' relies on intuition? And if so, do preconceptions, beliefs, and values (which comprise part of one's ethics) shape the 'art' of managing patients, staff, and self?
Yes, that sounds reasonable. However, let's take this one step further, and beyond one's intuition. Although intuition may be part of the art of management, it might not always be the best measure of truth. I think the art of management also includes the judgments and decisions you make (based, in part, on your prior beliefs and values). However, it is important to keep our preconceptions, beliefs and values in check, as they may bias our professional judgments and decision making as they often come into conflict with the ethical codes of our position. For example, if your intuition told you to tell the patient something that only the doctor should be telling the patient, rules of professional and ethical conduct must override your intuition.

Healthcare management also includes the business side of things, where the art of HEALTHCARE management is about strategy, judgments and business decisions, often an area where there are no right or wrong answers; perhaps one better than the next, but there is NO exact answer. It is about strategy, judgment and decisions that managers make about the technical procedures (science). The 'science' of technical and business procedures are often rooted in theory and perhaps formulas; however, the 'art' of judgments and strategy direct the management process; thus, the need for an integration of art and science in healthcare management. It is important though to understand that the science and art of management are always integrated; so, even though I label certain points as an art and another as the science for illustrative purposes, they are integrated (strategy and technological procedures. For example, a flow chart can be considered a scientific tool, but the interpretation of the numbers is the art of management. Often, two managers can look at the same numbers and have different visions and strategies that come out of the numbers; different interpretations, judgments, strategies, and visions are the art of management.

The ...