Through the Looking Glass: Healthcare Management’s Biggest Challenges in the Wake of Crisis

Abstract

In the onset of the pandemic, scholars quickly synthesized prior healthcare management literature to offer insights and strategies that could help healthcare managers and systems cope with and respond to the challenges the crisis brought on. Yet, as healthcare organizations come close to entering the third year of the crisis, the field has been significantly altered and it is important to take stock of the challenges facing healthcare management in the wake of the crisis. In this paper, we examine the central challenges facing healthcare managers in the present day, working to extend current scholarship and bridge the practice and theory divide. We draw upon the initial scholarly work that emerged in the onset of the crisis and employ a longitudinal study with hospital executives and management to explore the persistent challenges facing managers in practice. Initial literature identified several categories relevant for healthcare management amidst the COVID-19 pandemic: Human Resources, Operations, Team dynamics, External Collaboration and Leadership. While these categories remain salient, our study adds important contextual differences and puts a spotlight on three key issues facing healthcare managers beyond the crisis: the centrality of human resource constraints (amidst increased demand), expanding the focus on collaboration (and rethinking competition), and reconsidering the approach to leadership (inclusive versus decisive). We conclude by drawing upon relevant management theories and offer insights for future research to support the creation of novel solutions and approaches to persistent challenges in practice.