ABOUT HEALTH MANAGEMENT

Health management involves the managing of systems, personnel and resources that provide health care to people. Roles range from team leaders within clinical teams, to clinical directors or service managers, to chief executives of major health organisations like District Health Boards or the Ministry of Health. Practice is concerned with the systems and processes which support clinicians to provide health care, with a focus on groups of people (such as ‘patients who require renal dialysis’ or ‘people with chronic respiratory illness who live in central Auckland’). Doctors who work in health management must balance the individualisation of treatment with the advantages of processes and systems that provide consistent quality of care and that best utilise available resources.