The contribution of "spontaneous" health care networks to improving outcomes: Opportunities and challenges from the perspective of planning and control systems

The article aims to explore how Planning Control systems may support network-oriented policy-making in the health care sector. This work examines the case of ISMETT (Mediterranean Institute for high specialized transplants and therapies), a Sicilian hospital established in 1998 to provide high specialized and complex transplants and therapies. ISMETT pertains to several networks and it has a long-time experience in establishing and governing such inter-organizational relationships. The analysis of the case illustrates how health care networks may contribute to improve health and generate social and economic outcomes for the community

Digital health technology enhances resilient behaviour: evidence from the ward

Purpose: In the healthcare management domain, there is a lack of knowledge concerning the role of resilience practices in improving patient safety. The purpose of this paper is to understand the capabilities that enable healthcare resilience and how digital technologies can support these capabilities. Design/methodology/approach: Within- and cross-case research methodology was used to study resilience mechanisms and capabilities in healthcare and to understand how digital health technologies impact healthcare resilience. The authors analyze data from two Italian hospitals through the lens of the operational failure literature and anchor the findings to the theory of dynamic capabilities. Findings: Five different dynamic capabilities emerged as crucial for managing operational failure. Furthermore, in relation to these capabilities, medical, organizational and patient-related knowledge surfaced as major enablers. Finally, the findings allowed the authors to better explain the role of knowledge in healthcare resilience and how digital technologies boost this role. Practical implications: When trying to promote a culture of patient safety, the research suggests healthcare managers should focus on promoting and enhancing resilience capabilities. Furthermore, when evaluating the role of digital technologies, healthcare managers should consider their importance in enabling these dynamic capabilities. Originality/value: Although operations management (OM) research points to resilience as a crucial behavior in the supply chain, this is the first research that investigates the concept of resilience in healthcare systems from an OM perspective, with only a few authors having studied similar concepts, such as \u201cworkaround\u201d practices

How can we optimise antifungal use in a solid organ transplant centre? Local epidemiology and antifungal stewardship implementation: A single-centre study

We aimed to implement and to assess the impact of the antifungal stewardship programme (AFSp) on prescription appropriateness of antifungals, management and outcomes of candidaemia patients, and antifungal consumption and costs at our solid organ transplant (SOT) institute