Advancing theory on the multilevel role of leadership in the implementation of evidence-based health care practices.

BACKGROUND

Top managers' transformational leadership is associated with significant influence on subordinates. Yet little is known about the extent to which top managers' transformational leadership influences middle managers' implementation leadership and, ultimately, frontline staff delivery of evidence-based health care practices.

PURPOSE

To test a multilevel leadership model examining the extent to which top managers' transformational leadership, as mediated by implementation leadership of middle managers (i.e., those who supervise direct clinical services), affects staff attitudes toward evidence-based practices (EBPs) and their implementation.

METHODOLOGY/APPROACH: We used data collected in 2013 from 427 employees in 112 addiction health services programs in Los Angeles County, California. We relied on hierarchical linear models with robust standard errors to analyze multilevel data, individuals nested in programs. We conducted two path models to estimate multilevel relationships with two EBPs: contingency management and medication-assisted treatment.

RESULTS

Findings partially supported our theory-driven multilevel leadership model. Specifically, results demonstrated that middle managers' implementation leadership mediated the relationship between top managers' transformational leadership and attitudes toward EBPs. At the same time, they showed the mediated relationship for delivery of contingency management treatment was only marginally significant (standardized indirect effect = .006, bootstrap p = .091). We did not find a mediation effect for medication-assisted treatment.

DISCUSSION

Findings advance leadership theory in health care, highlighting the importance of middle managers' implementation leadership in transmitting the influence of top managers' transformational leadership on staff attitudes toward EBPs. The full path model shows the extent to which transformational leadership may influence staff implementation of innovative practices as mediated through staff attitudes toward EBPs and middle managers' implementation leadership.

PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS

Our findings have implications for developing a multilevel leadership approach to implementation in health care. Leadership development should build on different competencies based on managers' level but align managers' priorities on the same implementation goals.