An evaluation of program management: the West Park Hospital experience

Organizational justice principles and large-scale change: the case of program management

Many of the barriers to implementation of large-scale change in healthcare organizations seem to be related to a lack of attention to the human change that needs to occur. One element of this human dimension that change agents overlook is the role that perception of fairness to employees plays in implementing large-scale organizational change. This article uses program management (an organizational design that has been implemented in many healthcare facilities across Canada) as an example of large-scale structural change and demonstrates the importance of applying procedural and interactional justice principles to enhance the implementation of organizational change.

Interdisciplinary professional practice leadership within a program model: BC Rehab's experience

In restructuring from a departmental to a program management model, BC Rehab successfully developed the role of professional practice leader to address clinical standards of practice and other concerns related to individual disciplines. A review of the role of professional practice leader is presented. Practice leaders are in a unique position to promote interdisciplinary, client-focused service. Because practice leaders' mandates cross program boundaries, they are able to keep the broad scope and goals of rehabilitation in the forefront, offering a balance to the program-specific perspective. It is imperative for practice leaders to maintain connections to operational and clinical issues to avoid isolation.

Program management and health care informatics: defining relationships

The program management (PM) structure is a relatively well-known organizational model for hospitals. A variation of the matrix structure, it allows for an interdisciplinary team of health care providers to facilitate patient care delivery. However, providing such focused care results in a complex, highly information-dependent operational environment. To meet the information needs of such an environment, careful planning in selecting and implementing technology is required. Along with supporting patient care, the technology will also help in managing costs, human resources, quality and utilization, as well as in monitoring performance and outcomes measurement. Focusing specifically on the information technology environment, this article addresses health care informatics (the diverse categories of information and systems) needed to support clinical program managers, executives and others in a PM organization. Examples from both a university-affiliated and a community-based program managed hospital illustrate their approach to PM and information technology.