Cases in Health Services Management, Sixth Edition

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3
Health Professions Press, Inc.
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This casebook can be used alone or in conjunction with other texts. To help instructors use the cases most effectively in the classroom, the
editors have prepared an instructor’s guide, Instructor’s Manual for Cases in Health Services Management, available to faculty as a downloadable
PDF file from Health Professions Press (see website and address above or call 1-888-337-8808 or 1-410-337-9585). Cases in Health Services
Management can also be used in conjunction with the textbook, Managing Health Services Organizations and Systems, also published by Health
Professions Press.

The cases presented in this volume are based on the case authors’ field research in a specific organization or are composite cases based on
experiences with several organizations. In most instances, the names of organizations and individuals and identifying details have been changed.
Cases are intended to stimulate discussion and analysis and are not meant to reflect positively or negatively on actual persons or organizations.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Darr, Kurt, editor. | Farnsworth, Tracy J., editor. | Myrtle, Robert C., editor.
Title: Cases in health services management / edited by Kurt Darr, Tracy J. Farnsworth, Robert C. Myrtle.
Description: Sixth edition. | Baltimore : Health Professions Press, Inc., [2017] | Preceded by: Cases in health services management / edited by
Jonathon S. Rakich, Beaufort B. Longest, Kurt Darr. 5th ed. c2010. | Includes bibliographical references. | Description based on print
version record and CIP data provided by publisher; resource not viewed.
Identifiers: LCCN 2017008811 (print) | LCCN 2017010156 (ebook) | ISBN 9781938870736 (epub) | ISBN 9781938870620 (pbk.)
Subjects: | MESH: Hospital Administration | Health Services Administration | Total Quality Management | Organizational Case Studies |
United States
Classification: LCC RA971 (ebook) | LCC RA971 (print) | NLM WX 150 | DDC 362.10973—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017008811

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication data are available from the British Library.

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 To the Alumni of the GWU MHA Program
(Dedication of Dr. Darr)

To my wife, Michelle;
parents Karl and Jackie;
and children, Lindsey (Dan), Taylor (Jill), Rachel (Steven), and Dallin
(Dedication of Dr. Farnsworth)

To my students, who made this work possible

(Dedication of Dr. Myrtle)

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 Additional titles on healthcare management and administration

Managing Health Services Organizations and Systems (Sixth Edition)

Ethics in Health Services Management (Sixth Edition)

Climbing the Healthcare Management Ladder: Career Advice from the Top on How to Succeed

Superior Productivity in Healthcare Organizations: How to Get It, How to Keep It (Second Edition)

Becoming an Effective Leader in Healthcare Management: The 12 Essential Skills (Second Edition)

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 Contents

About the Editors

Contributors
Preface
Acknowledgments
Introduction

PART I POLICY ENVIRONMENT OF HEALTH SERVICES DELIVERY

1 Carilion Clinic
Alexandra Piriz Mookerjee and Kurt Darr

Led by a new CEO, the efforts of a mid-Atlantic acute care hospital to develop a vertically integrated,
clinic-driven health services system result in allegations of antitrust, excessive healthcare costs, disruption
of physician referral patterns, and use of harsh collection practices, all of which cause a negative reaction
in its service area.

2 Flu Vaccine
Mary K. Feeney and Abigail Peterman

Flu vaccine shortages in 2004–2005 caused by a major manufacturer’s problems with quality control
result in federal and state efforts to secure supplies of the vaccine and raise public policy and resource-
allocation issues that users can role-play in three scenarios.

3 Merck’s Crixivan
Kimberly A. Rucker, Nora G. Albert, and Kurt Darr

A pharmaceutical manufacturer encounters significant negative stakeholder reaction to its introduction

of a new medication for the human immunodeficiency virus despite having met expectations for clinical
rigor and carefully assessing stakeholders and the external environment.

4 Pineridge Quality Alliance: A Case Study in Clinical Integration and Population Health
Tracy J. Farnsworth

A new CEO urges his board to move toward becoming an accountable care organization and promoting
regional population health, which demands choosing among three common approaches to navigating the
challenges and opportunities of developing a clinically integrated network.

5 Hawaii Health Systems Corporation: The Politics of Public Health Systems Governance
Earl G. Greenia

A healthcare executive facing continual public policy restructuring of Hawaii’s Health Systems

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 Corporation must develop strategic options for his board to consider in response to this environmental
uncertainty.

PART II STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT

6 Riviera Medical Center

Michael J. King and Robert C. Myrtle

The CEO of a 350-bed hospital explores strategic alternatives to enhance its financial situation and
reputation by asking the hospital board to approve a worksite wellness program to be marketed to area
companies to improve workers’ health and decrease employers’ healthcare costs.

7 Edgewood Lake Hospital: Leadership in a Rural Healthcare Facility During Challenging Economic
Times
Brent C. Pottenger, Douglas Archer, Stephen Cheung, and Robert C. Myrtle

The new CEO of a 30-bed, not-for-profit rural hospital faces a turnaround situation to make the
hospital profitable after 3 years of losses. Problems include challenging payer mix, employee overstaffing,
and difficulty recruiting physicians.

8 Klamath Care: Targeting and Managing Growth and Company-Wide Development

Tracy J. Farnsworth, Leigh W. Cellucci, and Carla Wiggins

The CEO of a growing system of urgent care centers recounts the organization’s development over a
decade while considering strategies and options for future growth in an increasingly crowded
marketplace with an analysis that uses financial, market share, and demographic data.

9 Hospital Consolidation
Tracy J. Farnsworth

This case focuses on the relationship healthcare providers have with their local and regional markets and
the need to balance organization and community interests when making decisions that affect the
healthcare marketplace.

10 Service Area Management

Tracy J. Farnsworth

Users are challenged to analyze, prioritize, and use disparate information common to a dynamic and
competitive healthcare marketplace as part of an organization’s strategic planning and marketing
processes.

11 Western Healthcare Systems: A Healthcare Delivery Continuum

Robert C. Myrtle

Western Healthcare Systems was creating an integrated delivery system when an opportunity to acquire
a large multispecialty group arose, but it may be imprudent to proceed because of hospital and
multispecialty group physician resistance.

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PART III ORGANIZATIONAL MANAGEMENT

12 Hartland Memorial Hospital: Part 1, In-Box and Prioritization Exercise

Kent V. Rondeau, John E. Paul, and Jonathon S. Rakich

The VP for nursing services of a 285-bed for-profit hospital must decide what actions to take regarding
her in-box, which includes e-mail, correspondence, and phone messages that communicate various
challenges, such as two angry nurses, a wandering patient, staff shortages, and increasing numbers of OR
infections. Emphasizes priority setting, decision making, and delegation.

13 Bad Image Radiology Department

Kurt Darr

Management of a community hospital is unwilling to recognize and address major problems in its
radiology department, which is directed by a radiologist whose disruptive behavior and preoccupation
with income and stock market speculation have diminished the quality of radiograph readings with tragic
results.

14 Westmount Nursing Homes: Implementing a Continuous Quality Improvement Initiative

Kent V. Rondeau

The future of a total quality management initiative is threatened when the CEO has to overcome more
than the expected barriers and pitfalls in a chain of seven nursing homes and the initiative becomes
entangled in negotiations with the union representing nurses.

15 District Hospital: A Lesson in Governance

Cynthia Mahood Levin and Kurt Darr

A tax district community hospital has major problems with its governance structure because of historical
animosities among internal stakeholders, medical staff politics, weak and ambivalent senior management,
and a disruptive member of the medical staff who has ambitions to attain major power in the hospital.

16 Restructuring Decision Making at Holy Family Hospital: Overcoming Resistance to a Shared

Governance Program
Kent V. Rondeau

A change initiative introduced to democratize decision making and improve clinical care in a healthcare
organization is met with staff suspicion, derision, and resistance.

PART IV ORGANIZATIONAL EFFECTIVENESS

17 Attica Memorial Hospital: The Ingelson Burn Center

Bonnie Eng-Suess and Robert C. Myrtle

After the merger of two hospitals, planning must include how to consolidate duplicated services and
realign units, including a burn center, while considering the center’s financing and community and
organizational impact.

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18 Pediatric Dental Care Center
Eleanor Lin

A not-for-profit pediatric dental care center that has struggled financially for years as it serves a
Medicaid population is offered the opportunity to become part of a federally qualified health center, but
to do so requires expanding services and significantly changing its governance structure.

19 Radical Innovation on the Idaho Frontier: Bengal Telepharmacy

Julie Frischmann, Neil Tocher, and Alexander R. Bolinger

Efforts to provide pharmacy services in a rural community are successful because of creative thinking,
perseverance, political deal making, and using telepharmacy in a unique and effective way.

20 Structure and Funding of Hospitalist Programs

John E. Paul and Gillian Gilson Watson

An academic medical center must decide how to structure and fund hospitalist services in the context of
its relationship with an affiliated school of medicine; the history and content of hospitalist functions; and
other revenue that might be derived from hospitalist services, even while considering several alternate
strategies.

21 Appian Health Systems

Robert C. Myrtle

A negotiation simulation allows participants to assume union and hospital roles to work toward an
acceptable collective bargaining agreement.

22 Evolution of the Healthy Communities Initiatives

Barry Ross

Several years after initiating healthcare services for diverse, underserved communities, hospital leadership
is planning how to take its activities to a level with greater impact and sustainability.

PART V LEADERSHIP CHALLENGES

23 Hospital Software Solutions (A)

Elizabeth M. A. Grasby and Jason Stornelli

A software company supplying information technology services to Ontario (CN) hospitals has an ill-
defined structure and controls that frustrate a new employee with conflicting demands from the firm’s
managers, including expectations inconsistent with her job description.

24 The Case of Tim’s Last Years

Kurt Darr and Carla Jackie Sampson

Declining physical health forces an accomplished retired professor to enter a life care community in
which his diminished independence leads to conflicts with management and staff even as further health
problems result in an apparently willed death.

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25 Autumn Park
Cara Thomason Embry and Robert C. Myrtle

The executive director and the director of assisted living in a community for independent and assisted
living must resolve a disagreement as to the appropriate level of care for a difficult resident.

26 Appalachian Home Health Services

Kathryn H. Dansky

A not-for-profit home health agency faces a controversial choice after learning its best applicant for a
nursing position is a convicted felon, and a review by management shows more widespread problems
with recruitment and staffing.

27 Suburban Health Center

Bruce D. Evans and George S. Cooley

The supervisor of the suburban branch of a city health department faces problems with an insubordinate
and possibly incompetent nurse, even as the lack of authority and inadequate support from superiors are
complicated by the absence of employee performance evaluations.

28 Team Building: From Success to Failure in 24 Hours

Cherie A. Hudson Whittlesey

What starts as a highly successful team-building exercise becomes problematic when one physician
challenges the process and forces the facilitator to consider underlying issues and then devise responses
that will preserve team cooperation.

PART VI ETHICS INCIDENTS

29 Ethics Incidents
Kurt Darr

Twelve mini-case studies cover the spectrum of administrative and clinical ethical issues, from conflicts
of interest to dishonest contractors and from infection control to advance medical directives.

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Administrative Ethics
Incident 1: Borrowed Time
Incident 2: ED Repeat Admissions: A Question of Resource Use
Incident 3: The Administrative Institutional Ethics Committee
Incident 4: Bits and Pieces
Incident 5: A Potentially Shocking Revelation
Incident 6: Intensive Care Unit Dysfunction

Clinical Ethics
Incident 7: Protecting the Community
Incident 8: Decisions
Incident 9: The Missing Needle Protector
Incident 10: To Vaccinate, or Not
Incident 11: Demarketing to Avoid Bankruptcy
Incident 12: Something Must Be Done, But What?

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 About the Editors

Kurt Darr, JD, ScD, LFACHE, is Professor Emeritus of Hospital Administration, and of Health Services
Management and Leadership, Department of Health Services Policy and Management, School of Public
Health, The George Washington University. Dr. Darr holds the Doctor of Science from The Johns Hopkins
University and the Master of Hospital Administration and Juris Doctor from the University of Minnesota.
His baccalaureate degree was awarded by Concordia College, Moorhead, MN.
Dr. Darr completed an administrative residency at the Rochester (MN) Methodist Hospital and
subsequently worked as an administrative associate at the Mayo Clinic. After being commissioned in the U.S.
Navy during the Vietnam War, he served in administrative and educational assignments at St. Albans Naval
Hospital (NY) and Bethesda Naval Hospital (MD). He completed postdoctoral fellowships with the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services, the World Health Organization, and the Accrediting
Commission on Education for Health Services Administration.
Dr. Darr is admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of the state of Minnesota and the Court of
Appeals of the District of Columbia. He was a mediator for the Civil Division of the Superior Court of the
District of Columbia and has served as a hearing officer for the American Arbitration Association. Dr. Darr is
a member of hospital committees on quality improvement and on ethics in the District of Columbia
metropolitan area. He is a Life Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives.
Dr. Darr’s teaching and research interests include health services management, administrative and clinical
ethics, hospital organization and management, quality improvement, and applying the Deming method in
health services. Dr. Darr is the editor and author of numerous books, articles, and cases used for graduate
education and professional development in health services.

Tracy J. Farnsworth, EdD, MHSA, MBA, FACHE, is President and Chief Executive Officer of the
Proposed Idaho College of Osteopathic Medicine Dr. Farnsworth has served as Director and Associate Dean
of the School of Health Professions, Division of Health Sciences, Idaho State University (ISU [Pocatello])
since 2010. He is Associate Professor in the Health Care Administration Program at ISU and has served as
Program Director.
Dr. Farnsworth is a graduate of Brigham Young University. He received master’s degrees in Business and
Health Services Administration from Arizona State University and the Doctor of Education in Educational
Leadership from ISU. In 2014, Dr. Farnsworth was awarded the Kole-McGuffey Prize for excellence in
education research, and in 2016 he received the J. Warren Perry Distinguished Author Award from the
Association of Schools of Allied Health Professions.
Prior to becoming an educator, Dr. Farnsworth had executive-level appointments with Intermountain
Healthcare, Catholic Healthcare West, the City of Hope National Medical Center, and other public and
private healthcare systems.
A Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives, Dr. Farnsworth has written and spoken

13
widely on subjects related to hospital and health systems performance improvement, healthcare reform,
medical education, healthcare leadership and governance, and interprofessional education/collaboration.

Robert C. Myrtle, DPA, is Professor Emeritus of Health Services Administration, Sol Price School of Public
Policy, University of Southern California. Dr. Myrtle received a bachelor’s degree in business administration
from the California State University, Long Beach, and a master’s and doctoral degree in public administration
from the University of Southern California. During 41 years at the University of Southern California (USC),
Dr. Myrtle co-authored two books on management; 18 book chapters; 51 articles in journals, including Health
Care Management Review, Health Policy and Planning, Public Administration Review, Social Science and
Medicine, and The Gerontologist; and 70 conference papers and professional reports. He has academic
appointments in the Leonard Davis School of Gerontology and the Marshall School of Business and is a
Visiting Professor in the Institute of Health Policy and Management at the National Taiwan University.
Dr. Myrtle’s key research interests are leadership, executive development, and organizational and
management effectiveness. Current research includes the influence of managers’ behavior on perceptions of
overall leadership effectiveness; examining factors influencing the performance of surgical teams; and assessing
factors influencing organizational legitimacy during and following major natural disasters.
Dr. Myrtle is the recipient of the Academy of Management’s Health Care Division’s Teaching Excellence
Award and the American Society for Public Administration’s Los Angeles Chapter Harry Scoville Award for
Academic Excellence. He was named Professor of the Year at USC and has three times been named Most
Inspirational Business Professor. He is the recipient of the American College of Healthcare Executives
Regents Award, and the Hubert H. Humphrey Award for best article of the year appearing in the Journal of
Health and Human Services Administration.
Dr. Myrtle was chair of the Los Angeles County Hospitals and Health Services Commission. He was
board chair for SCAN Health Plan and was a member of the board of directors for the Huntington Medical
Foundation. He has served as board chair of Health and Human Services for the City of Long Beach (CA).

Professor Emeritus Darr coauthored the textbook, Managing Health Services Organizations and Systems, Sixth
Edition (2014), with Beaufort B. Longest, Jr., published by Health Professions Press. This health services
management textbook should be used as a complement to Cases in Health Services Management.

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 Contributors

Nora G Albert, MHA

Project Manager
Children’s National Health System
111 Michigan Ave, NW
Washington, DC 20010

Douglas Archer, MHA

Hospital Administrator
Sutter Health-Memorial Hospital–Los Banos
520 West I St.
Los Banos, CA 93635

Alexander R Bolinger, PhD, MBA

Associate Professor of Management
Idaho State University
921 S. 8th Ave.
Pocatello, ID 83209–8020

Leigh W Cellucci, PhD, MBA

Professor and Program Director
Department of Health Services and Information Management
East Carolina University
Greenville, NC 27858–668

Stephen Cheung, MHA, DDS

School of Dentistry
State Capital Center
School of Policy, Planning, and Development
University of Southern California
Sacramento, CA 95811

George S Cooley
Long Green Associates, Inc.
Long Green, MD 21092

Kathryn H Dansky, PhD

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Associate Professor Emerita
Department of Health Policy and Administration
College of Health and Human Development
Pennsylvania State University
201 Main
University Park, PA 16802

Kurt Darr, JD, ScD, LFACHE

Professor Emeritus, Hospital Administration
Dept. of Health Services Management & Leadership
The George Washington University
2175 K Street, NW
Suite 320
Washington, DC 20037

Cara Thomason Embry, MSG, MHA, RN

Sol Price School of Public Health
University of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA 90089–0626

Bonnie Eng-Suess, MHA

Director of Hospital Risk Contracting and Operations
Dignity Health
251 S. Lake Ave., Ste 700
Pasadena, CA 91101

Bruce D Evans, MBA

Professor of Management
University of Dallas
Satish & Yasmin Gupta College of Business
1845 E. Northgate Dr.
Irving, TX 75062

Tracy J Farnsworth, EdD, MHSA, MBA, FACHE

Associate Dean and Director
Kasiska School of Health Professions
Division of Health Sciences
Idaho State University
921 South 8th Ave.
Pocatello, ID 83209–8090

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Mary K Feeney, PhD
Associate Professor and Lincoln Professor of Ethics in Public Affairs
School of Public Affairs
Arizona State University
411 N. Central Ave., Suite 450
Phoenix, AZ 85004

Julie Frischmann
Instructor/Academic Coach
Student Success Center
Idaho State University
921 S. 8th Ave.
Pocatello, ID 83209–8010

Elizabeth M A Grasby, PhD

c/o Richard Ivey School of Business
The University of Western Ontario
1151 Richmond Street North
London, Ontario N6A 3K7
CANADA

Earl G Greenia, PhD, FACHE

Professor, Healthcare Administration & Management
Colorado State University–Global Campus
7800 E. Orchard Road
Greenwood Village, CO 80111

Michael J King, MHA

Chief Financial Officer, Shared Services Division
Tenet Healthcare Corporation
1445 Ross Ave., Suite 1400
Dallas, TX 75202

Eleanor Lin, MHA, DDS

Children’s Dental Health Clinic
455 E. Columbia St.
Long Beach, CA 90806

Cynthia Mahood Levin, MHSA

Healthcare Consultant
Palo Alto, CA

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Nova Ashanti Monteiro, MD
Children’s National Medical Center
111 Michigan Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20010

Robert C Myrtle, DPA

Professor Emeritus, Health Services Administration
Sol Price School of Public Policy
University of Southern California
105 Siena Drive
Long Beach, CA 90803

John E Paul, PhD, MSPH

Clinical Professor and Associate Chair for Academics
Department of Health Policy and Management
Gillings School of Global Public Health
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
135 Dauer Drive.
Chapel Hill, NC 27599

Abigail Peterman
Center for Science, Technology and Environmental Policy Studies
Arizona State University
University Center
411 N. Central Ave.
Phoenix, AZ 85004

Alexandra Piriz Mookerjee, MHSA

Administrator
Westminster Communities of Florida
Magnolia Towers
100 E. Anderson St.
Orlando, FL 32801

Brent C Pottenger, MD, MHA

Dept. of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation
Johns Hopkins Medicine
707 North Broadway
Baltimore, MD 21205

Jonathon S Rakich

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Professor Emeritus
Indiana University Southeast
4201 Grant Line Road
New Albany, IN 47150

Kent Rondeau, PhD

Associate Professor
School of Public Health
University of Alberta
Faculty of Extension, Enterprise Square
10230 Jasper Ave., Room 2–216
Edmonton, Alberta T5J 4P6
CANADA

Barry Ross, MPH, MBA

Vice President, Healthy Communities
St. Jude Medical Center
101 E. Valencia Mesa Dr.
Fullerton, CA 92835

Kimberly A Rucker
Healthcare Consultant
Washington, DC

Carla Jackie Sampson, MBA, FACHE

Graduate Research Associate
Florida Center for Nursing
12424 Research Pkwy, #220
Orlando, FL 32826

Jessica Silcox, RN, MSN

Staff Development Educator & Stroke Coordinator
Sentara Northern Virginia Medical Center
2300 Opitz Blvd.
Woodbridge, VA 22191

Jason Stornelli
c/o Richard Ivey School of Business
The University of Western Ontario
1151 Richmond Street North
London, Ontario N6A 3K7

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CANADA

Neil Tocher, PhD

Professor of Management
Idaho State University
921 S. 8th Ave.
Pocatello, ID 83209–8020

Gillian Gilson Watson, MHA

Department of Hospital Medicine
University of North Carolina Hospitals
101 Manning Dr.
Chapel Hill, NC 27599–7085

Cherie A Hudson Whittlesey, ML

Director, Organizational Learning and Effectiveness
St. Jude Medical Center
101 E. Valencia Mesa Dr.
Fullerton, CA 92835

Carla Wiggins, PhD

Professor and MHA Program Director
Weber State University
3875 Stadium Way, Dept. 3911
Ogden, UT 84408

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 Preface

Like its predecessors, the sixth edition of Cases in Health Services Management describes management
problems and issues in various healthcare settings. The primary criterion to select a case was that it had to be
rich in applied lessons. Case selection was tempered by the editors’ 90 years of combined experience in
teaching and using the case method. The result is a comprehensive set of health services management cases in
one volume.
Cases vary in length and complexity and are grouped into six parts. Of the 28 cases in this edition, 14 are
new. There are two new ethics incidents. Cases and ethics incidents that have stood the test of time and use
were retained in this edition. All have been updated and edited to make them as streamlined as possible.
Consistent with the evolving healthcare delivery system, half the cases are set outside of acute care hospitals.
Those include a long-term care facility, a health network, a continuing care retirement community, an
emergency department, a hospital burn unit, a dental clinic, a pharmaceutical company, a city health
department, a home health agency, and a software company.
Acute care hospital cases include a range of sizes, types, ownerships, and geographic locations, including
rural and inner-city settings. One hospital case is set in a multi-institutional system; another applies the
principles of continuous quality improvement. An in-box exercise set in a hospital simulates the time pressures
that confront managers and the importance of prioritizing the issues, and a labor relations role-play case
creates a powerful learning experience that emphasizes the challenges and dynamics of any negotiated
relationship.
Depending on depth of analysis and time available for out-of-class preparation, most cases can be analyzed
in two hours, or less. A few cases are short and have one issue. Most, however, are integrative and complex
and involve multiple problems and issues. As a result, analyses will often require applying concepts from
different disciplinary fields and knowledge areas. This may require users to synthesize and apply knowledge,
skills, and experience from the social and health sciences in their analyses and discussions.
The primary use of this book of cases is the education of health services managers. Case analysis bridges
theory and practice. In this regard, students studying health services management, as well as experienced
managers, will find the cases informative as they hone analytical and problem-solving skills. These cases can
also be used in continuing professional development for practicing managers.
By their nature, cases present events, situations, problems, and issues. The dynamics of the analysis,
including the group discussion, make the case method a powerful and rich tool for learning. Users are urged to
review the Introduction, which describes the case method and case analysis.
The cases included in this volume are intended to stimulate discussion and analysis. In most instances, the
names of organizations and individuals are disguised. In all instances, authors of the cases have prepared well-
written, factual situations that are based on field research in a specific organization, or a composite case based
on experience with several organizations. No case is meant to reflect positively or negatively on actual persons

21
or organizations, or to depict either effective or ineffective handling of administrative situations.
The 28 cases and 12 ethics incidents are organized into six parts:

Part I: Policy Environment of Health Services Delivery (five cases)

Part II: Strategic Management (six cases)

Part III: Organizational Management (five cases)

Part IV: Organizational Effectiveness (six cases)

Part V: Leadership Challenges (six cases)

Part VI: Ethics Incidents (12 statements of fact that show ethics issues)

The case synopses in the table of contents identify organizational setting, dominant themes, and managerial
problems. The core task of teaching effective health services management is to hone the ability to identify and
define problems as well as sharpen the judgment and ability to apply the skills and methods to solve them. As
experiential learning in health services management education has given way to more discipline-based didactic
preparation, and as younger, less-experienced students have entered graduate programs, cases that apply
didactic work have become more important. Using these cases following a comprehensive academic grounding
in the health services and management disciplines will prepare users for the types of problems they will
encounter as health services managers. With instructor or seminar-leader guidance, cases such as those in this
volume can make an important contribution to that goal.

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TEXTBOOK SUPPLEMENT AND INSTRUCTOR’S MANUAL
A useful supplement for instructors using the case method is Managing Health Services Organizations and
Systems, Sixth Edition, published by Health Professions Press. This textbook grounds students in the health
services system and gives them the knowledge needed for case analysis. Chapter 6, “Managerial Problem
Solving and Decision Making,” is especially helpful in preparing to use the case method.
An Instructor’s Manual, available as a downloadable PDF file from Health Professions Press, can be used
by faculty in teaching from Cases in Health Services Management, Sixth Edition. It contains the teaching notes
prepared by the case authors and is available without charge to instructors who adopt the casebook. Use the
following web address to request the Instructor’s Manual: http://www.healthpropress.com/instructor-
materials/
The Instructor’s Manual also contains follow-up case supplements to the following cases in the casebook:

1. Hartland Memorial Hospital (Part 2: Organizational Diagnosis and Social-Networking Exercise)—

follow up to case #12
2. Hospital Software Solutions (B)—follow up to case #23.

Instructors who use the follow-up cases are invited to reproduce them for classroom use.

23
 Acknowledgments

The editors gratefully acknowledge the contribution of authors whose cases are included. The authors are
listed alphabetically beginning at page xix. We thank them for allowing us to use their cases. In addition,
thanks are owed to the publishers who granted permission to reprint the cases to which they hold copyright.
We are indebted to the staff of Health Professions Press for their help in producing this casebook,
specifically Mary Magnus, Director of Publications; Cecilia González, Editorial and Production Manager;
Kaitlin Konecke, Marketing Manager; and Lisa Minick, Sales and Brand Manager.

The editors gratefully acknowledge the contributions made by two of the editors who collaborated in
preparing previous editions of this casebook, Jonathon S. Rakich, Ph.D., and Beaufort B. Longest, Jr., Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus Rakich, Professor Longest, and Professor Emeritus Darr edited the first five editions of
Cases in Health Services Management, which were published over three decades. The participation and historic
roles of Drs. Rakich and Longest in setting direction, selecting cases, and working as part of a team to
produce a high-quality casebook can be seen even in this edition. The editors of the Sixth Edition thank
them.

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