Bibliometric Review of the Knowledge Base on Healthcare Management for Sustainability, 1994–2018

Prattana Punnakitikashem,Philip Hallinger

doi:10.3390/su12010205

Prattana Punnakitikashem, Philip Hallinger

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/su12010205

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Journal: Sustainability	Publication Date: Dec 25, 2019
Citations: 22	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: Mahidol University, University of Johannesburg

Abstract

In response to the United Nations’ (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), health care organizations throughout the world have adopted management initiatives designed to increase their sustainability. This review of research used bibliometric methods to analyze a dataset comprised of 477 documents extracted from the Scopus database. The review sought to document research on sustainable healthcare management (SHM) that has accumulated over the past 25 years. Results indicated that the intellectual structure of this body of knowledge is comprised of three schools of thought: (1) sustainable change in health care services, (2) innovations in managing health care operations, and (3) prioritizing and allocating resources for sustainability. The review also highlighted the recent topical focus of research in this literature. Key topics were linked to organization and management of health care services, quality of patient care, and sustainability of health care delivery.

Highlights

The health status of a country’s population defines its development in terms of the well-being and quality of life of its citizens [1]
Health care organizations have striven to improve the quality of patient safety and care, and increase both the efficiency and accessibility of health care services [3,4]
The purpose of this paper is to review research in the field of healthcare management for sustainability using science mapping review methodology

Summary

Introduction

The health status of a country’s population defines its development in terms of the well-being and quality of life of its citizens [1]. Scholars and management practitioners identified the salience of ‘business transformation strategies’ focusing on operational process improvement for increasing the efficiency and sustainability of health care organizations [21,24]. These strategies included the Lean/Toyota Production System, Six Sigma, and total quality management [21], all of which aim to foster improvement in organizational processes and performance outcomes. Despite this trend in healthcare management practice, evidence of sustained results from continuous improvement programs remains limited [22]. This line of research can be considered to be most closely aligned with the ‘economic’ perspective on sustainability, as opposed to environmental or social perspectives

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Conclusion