The purpose of this study is to present the development of the specialty “Healthcare Management” from its establishment at the beginning of the twentieth century to the present day, in the USA – the country where this new professional field started to develope at the earliest.
Material and methods: A narrative review of full-text articles applying historical method is carried out, revealing the stages and factors that determine the development of the specialty.
Results and conclusions: There are three historical stages in the development of the specialty healthcare management in the USA – the foundation of the specialty (1900 - 1944), the period of expansion (1945 - 1970) and a period of adaptation to the changing healthcare regulations and contemporary social challenges (1970 - to the present). The factors that drive the process of development of the specialty in the three stages vary and the most prominent are: turbulent development of the medical science, standardization of the processes of higher education (incl. medical), investments in the hospital sector in the second phase; development of the managed care and health maintenance organizations, healthcare reforms since 2010 as a result of the for affordable care act, as well as the modern technological boom in the health sector.
Melo MBS. Quality management and managerialism in healthcare: a critical historical survey Palgrave Macmillan; 2014.
Hilsenrath PE. Healthcare management education settings in the United States. Journal of Management History. 2012;18(4):386-401.
Davies S. Health services management education: why and what? J Health Organ Manag. 2006;20(4):325-34.
Cunha MLS, Freire J-M, Repullo JR, Hortale VA. Bureaucratic state and health management training from a historical perspective: similarities and differences between Brazil and Spain. Saúde e Sociedade. 2019;28(2):80-94.
Aaronson WE, West DJ, Heshmat S, Ramirez B. The pillars of health management education: lessons from the CEE experience. J Health Adm Educ. 1998;16(2):125-44.
L. Cellucci MM, T. Farnsworth. Essentials of Healthcare Management: Cases, Concepts, and Skills, Second Edition (Gateway to Healthcare Management)2019.
AUPHA. History of AUPHA 2023 [Available from: https://www.aupha.org/about/historyofaupha.
Comellas M, Yeung T, Young-Whiting C, Hassell K, Fan F, Kameka M, et al. Health Services Administration Educational Programs in the United States: An Assessment of Past, Present, and Future Perspectives. Journal of Health Administration Education. 2020;37(3):171-80.
Richardson WC. Management education for health services. International Journal of Health Services. 1976;6(1):25-34.
Statistics UBoL. Fastest Growing Occupations 2023 [Available from: https://www.bls.gov/ooh/fastest-growing.htm.
Weil TP. Health management education in Europe and in the United States: a comparative review and analysis. Health Serv Manage Res. 2013;26(2-3):76-85.
