Managing healthcare services: Are professionals ready to play the role of manager?

Health professionals are now required to develop skills that help them to achieve better organizational performance, in addition to the skills necessary to carry out their professional activities. The role of clinician-manager has thus grown rapidly in all the main industrialized countries. The purpose of this study is to investigate how healthcare professionals perceive their level of preparation in managerial skills. Analysing literature on managerial skills in the health sector, ten domains of skills emerged and were used to construct a questionnaire. A survey analysis was conducted among professionals from health organizations in two Italian regions. Independent t-tests were conducted and a one-way analysis of variance was performed in order to compare the self-assessment competency levels in selected subgroups of participants. Findings show that healthcare professionals feel sufficiently prepared in all managerial areas identified. However, they also suggest that health organizations should invest more in all managerial areas. Differences between self-perception of competence and need for training occur among managers and non-managers. The findings will be useful for top management and policy makers designing operational tools for intervention in human resource development, with the aim of providing appropriate training and skills for clinician-managers.