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Book Review
Management in the Australian Health Care Industry, 2nd edition
M Clinton and D Scheiwe
ISBN: 0-582811-60-0 1998 Addison Wesley Longman
Virginia M King
Lecturer, Southern Cross University, NSW
When it was published in 1995 the first edition of this useful Australian textbook filled a gap in the literature on the health care industry, for both students and managers alike. Previous texts devoted to health care management were mostly set in the context of health services provided in the USA or the UK, and while some Australian writers may have included an overview chapter on our health care system their books focused largely on health care policy and health care issues. Clinton & Scheiwe's 1995 book was a welcome addition to health management as it was the first to systematically and comprehensively describe and analyse the structure and processes of the Australian health care industry and its responsibilities and outcomes. The Foreword of the book claimed that the provisions of health care services called for a high degree of management skills grounded on a wide-ranging knowledge of matters related to health care such as information bases, health planning, management theories and practices and emerging trends in health care.
This second edition covers such matters and many more, beginning with a chapter that provides a concise overview of the Australian health care system. The list of contributors is impressive and includes practitioners, consultants, researchers and scholars who are recognized nationally for their expertise in health care management. An introduction from the editors indicates that the book has been designed to provide a guide to undergraduate students taking courses in health management, and also to postgraduate students who may be new to this field. The 1998 edition has been extensively revised with some changed titles reflecting trends in health care management towards newer paradigms such as strategic thinking and business planning, and two new chapters have been added. Chapters are sequenced in logical order: from the broad perspective of the health care system, the nursing profession, health economics and casemix which set the context for the reader; to specific health care influences such as industrial relations and organisational influences; through to the last few chapters which consider changing attitudes and trends in a number of contexts such as aged care facilities, overseas countries and the field of nurse management.
One criticism which may be leveled at this book is that it is oriented more towards nursing management. However, the editors state that it has been written with the needs of the registered nurses and undergraduate students of nursing and health management in mind as these groups are most likely to represent the main readership.
Although several chapters are focused on nursing, the issues which they address are placed in the wider context of health care. Chapter 2 outlines the structure of the nursing profession and nurse management, and the way in which nurses and nursing have become involved in health care management; the issues in nurse management canvassed in Chapter 17 have implications for the wider health management sector; and an entire chapter has been devoted to an examination of the allied health professions and their management roles in Chapter 14.
A number of the design features of this book help to make it a user-friendly publication. Learning objectives and an introductory section are provided at the beginning of each chapter and they close with a summary conclusion followed by a number of review or discussion questions and exercises to reinforce learning. A handy table is provided at the end of chapter two which summarises the topics to be discussed in the remainder of the book and the chapters in which they are located. A glossary of abbreviations is also provided and the index is comprehensive. In all, this is a publication worthy of a place on any health care library shelf or the desk of a health care manager, or student of health care management.
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