GLOBAL HEALTHCARE EXCELLENCE THROUGH MANAGEMENT PROFESSIONALIZATION: A CRITICAL IMPERATIVE

Abstract

Healthcare systems globally face increasingly complex challenges that require skilled management to ensure high-quality, cost-effective care delivery. This article examines the critical imperative of professionalizing healthcare management through a global perspective. Drawing on international evidence, we demonstrate that management quality significantly impacts clinical outcomes, operational efficiency, and financial sustainability across healthcare organizations. Despite this evidence, healthcare management lacks consistent professional standards in many regions, with leadership roles often filled by clinicians with limited formal management preparation. We analyze global approaches to healthcare management professionalization, highlighting competency frameworks, educational pathways, and credentialing systems across North America, Europe, Middle East, Asia-Pacific, and low-resource settings. The article addresses critical perspectives on management theory and education while proposing a comprehensive framework for advancing healthcare management professionalization. This framework emphasizes establishing competency standards, developing diverse educational pathways, implementing progressive credentialing, fostering professional identity, building evidence-based management capacity, and promoting contextualized implementation. We conclude that professionalizing healthcare management represents not merely an organizational development strategy but a critical imperative for achieving healthcare excellence worldwide.