Article ID: | iaor20115616 |
Volume: | 29 |
Issue: | 6 |
Start Page Number: | 616 |
End Page Number: | 626 |
Publication Date: | Sep 2011 |
Journal: | Journal of Operations Management |
Authors: | McDermott Christopher M, Stock Gregory N |
Keywords: | hospitals, operations management, New York, survey data |
Focus in hospitals has been heralded as the next frontier in improving its efficiency and efficacy (). However, there is scarce empirical work examining its effects in this setting. Focus in hospitals can take several different forms, ranging from standalone specialty centers to a hospital that chooses to emphasize in some operational way a particular specialty while still offering a full range of services. Although standalone facilities can be found in many locations, the vast majority of hospitals must follow the latter route to achieve focus. Current conceptualizations and measures of focus struggle to capture this construct in a way that does not assume a narrowing of range of offerings. In contrast to the traditional view of