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Rundall, T. G. (1984). 'Hospital Contract Management: Organizational and Public Policy Issues'. Health Services Research 19(4): 455.
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Contract management of hospitals and other health care organizations by external agencies has been justified as a means of increasing hospital effectivenss. This assertion gives rise to a number of theoretical and empirical issues involving:
- the best way to measure effectiveness,
- the impact of managerial succession on organizational performance,
- the impact of contract management on actual hospital operations, and
- the lack of a theoretical framework for analyzing the phenomenon.
Contract management raises some larger public policy issues as well. It is part of a trend toward multi-institutional hospital systems, a trend surrounded by controversy. There are other issues regarding contract management that are beyond ideological rhetoric and demand attention, however.
