The Intellectual Potential of Employees in Hospital Crisis Management During a Pandemic

Abstract

Abstract: Hospitals are medical entities that provide health care services to patients. The specialized medical staff does not only provide medical services, but also educates future medical professionals, conducts clinical research, and supports the development of medical technology.
 The important role of employees in hospital operations is evidenced by the dominant percentage of labour costs in the cost structure of the health care entity.
 The article aims to analyse the changes in remuneration of teaching hospital employees as a factor stimulating the increase in the intellectual potential of hospital employees, including medical staff as the main resource of knowledge workers, in hospital crisis management during a pandemic.
 The inference was made based on the available financial data on the formation and growth of labour costs of hospital employees as a factor in stimulating the development of intellectual potential.
 The following research questions were posed: Is the level of remuneration of hospital employees during a pandemic an expression of building the intellectual potential of hospital employees and do current legal regulations on financing the operations of teaching hospitals in Poland, including the financing of salaries and other labour costs of medical staff, support crisis management during a pandemic?
 The research was conducted based on the reporting data for 2018-2020 in selected teaching hospitals as primary entities employing high-level medical professionals. The research was empirical by nature and was based on quantitative and qualitative data. The analyses were of an expert nature from the perspective of a certified auditor and a long-term researcher of the problems of the functioning of hospitals as medical entities.
 The investigations presented in the paper help identify the conditions for the development of the intellectual potential of hospital employees as actors involved in solving health problems of an international scope. The effects of the analyses are mainly addressed to the bodies establishing medical entities, bodies influencing the form of the health care system and hospital management staff.