The changing face of health care management

In health care as elsewhere, the only constant is change. Change has been especially rapid in health care, forcing dramatic changes in the way health care managers work. Management style in health care may or may not be different from that in other industries; its determinants are related primarily to certain universal characteristics that may be present in many businesses but have one dimension in common: immediacy of the customer (that is, hands-on, face-to-face service). Health care management has had to change considerably in the past 30 years and will be required to change further still in the years to come. In changing with the industry, the role of the health care manager will include enhanced span of control and increased authority and responsibility, and thus greater accountability. Given the changing nature of the environment, the most valuable characteristics of tomorrow's health care manager will be flexibility and adaptability.