Where the Rubber Meets the Road: A Mixed-method Study of Middle Managers' Role in Innovation Implementation in Health Care Organizations

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  • March 19, 2019
Creator
  • Birken, Sarah Abigail
    • Affiliation: Gillings School of Global Public Health, Department of Health Policy and Management
Abstract
  • A large gap exists between evidence and practice in health care organizations. Researchers in other industries regard middle managers as key players in innovation implementation, but middle managers in health care have a poorly understood role. This study used self-administered survey data and data from semi-structured interviews with sixteen of the middle managers who completed the survey to assess middle managers' role in innovation implementation in health care organizations. Results indicate that commitment to innovation implementation among middle managers has the potential to improve implementation effectiveness in health care organizations. Middle managers' commitment cannot be taken for granted, however; it must be fostered. In particular, middle managers' commitment can be fostered with an infrastructure that supports innovation implementation. Top managers are in a key position to promote such an infrastructure: They can (1) make it known that innovation implementation is a priority in the organization; (2) openly, regularly, and informally communicate with middle managers in specific terms about their implementation-related performance; and (3) ensure that implementation policies and practices have their intended effect (e.g., access to human resources alleviates strains among middle managers) and that no barriers exist that may limit the positive influence of implementation policies and practices on middle managers' commitment (e.g., resistance to innovation implementation among providers does not increase strains among middle managers).
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  • In Copyright
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  • " ... in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Health Policy and Management School of Public Health."
Advisor
  • Lee, Shoou-Yih Daniel
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  • Chapel Hill, NC
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  • Open access
Date uploaded
  • March 18, 2013

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