Preface for international best practices in health care management

Abstract

There are significant variations in the quality of health care management practices both within and across local, regional, and international health systems. With increasing globalization of health services, both quality and efficiency of care can benefit from shared learning on a regional or global basis, rendering countries, regions, and continents to become increasingly interdependent. Indeed, comparative international management research in the health sector is not only achievable, but more importantly is becoming increasingly necessary as several factors, or rather pressures, are driving globalization of health, health care, and health care management. Amongst the top challenges for health systems worldwide are the demands of changing demographics notably the economic, social, and chronic multimorbidity burden of aging populations; high costs of care that challenge governments to curtail the rising health care expenditure; and the more knowledgeable, empowered but also litigious patients demanding higher quality and safety. Additionally, disease patterns have become increasingly globalized primarily as a result of air travel that has shrunk the world into a global village, but also because the global burden of diseases affects countries worldwide. Indeed, there are lessons to be learnt from the different health systems’ approaches to address rather similar challenges that health care management research needs to examine in depth. The optimal way to achieve this is by international comparative health systems research and international pursuit of best practice models. Best practices in health care management organize clinical and administrative processes in ways that achieve better results as compared to normal standards in industry, potentially earning brand status. Although systems and quality of health care delivery differ across the world, empirical research has found that human beings involved in health care, whether in the role of patients or health care providers, have similar wants and needs. Identifying and documenting best practices within and across countries are more important than ever.