Decision making and hospital management in Greece: Research findings from the survey: "Hospital Governance in Europe".

Abstract

Health Services Management is recognized as an independent academic and professional field of study and employment in most developed countries, as it consists the basic means to achieve health care services quality and economic efficiency. Despite the noticeable availability of such expertise in Greece, public health hospitals have only recently (during the past decade) started to employ health services management experts. This was largely driven by the mounting health care spending within hospitals and the increasing pressure for cost containment measures. This paper presents and discusses the findings of a European survey on public hospitalmanagement in Greece and underlines the challenges faced during the implementation of the legislation introducing the employment of expert hospital managers. Findings indicate that a legislative framework on its own is not enough to effect change in the management of health care organisations.

JEL Classifications: D73, H51, I18, M00.