Navigating Challenges: A New Conceptual Model for Human Capital Management in Healthcare

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.34190/eckm.25.1.2474

Keywords:

human capital, skills monitoring, knowledge management, healthcare institution, healthcare workforce

Abstract

In the 21st century, the healthcare sector faces formidable challenges, including the rapid proliferation of medical technology innovations, the extension of life expectancy, and the concurrent trend of ageing within society. Moreover, healthcare grapples with an acute shortage of workforce, accompanied by significant skills gaps and mismatches. The consequences of skills shortages, gaps, and mismatches are profound, potentially impeding the treatment process and compromising healthcare outcomes, thereby jeopardizing both the quality of healthcare and the safety of patients and healthcare professionals alike. These signals underscore the imperative for transformative adjustments within the healthcare sector. Amidst this dynamic landscape, healthcare institutions must cultivate systems and approaches capable of rapid adaptation to evolving circumstances while facilitating future planning and data-driven decision-making. Of paramount importance is the establishment of systems that ensure effective knowledge management for healthcare professionals, identify knowledge and skills gaps, and highlight improvement opportunities. In light of these exigencies, the authors have crafted a conceptual model of human capital management based on skills monitoring and tailored to the healthcare sector. This model encapsulates a human-centric management ethos, seamlessly integrated with a data-driven business strategy within a patient-centric healthcare paradigm. The practical implementation of the Human Capital Management Model would empower healthcare institutions to make informed, data-driven decisions to reach the strategic goals of the institution: ensuring efficient human resource provision with appropriate skill-mix, improving health quality, increasing patient and healthcare professional safety, and the sustainable use of financial resources.

Author Biographies

Evita Grigorovica, Rīga Stradiņš University

Mg.oec. Evita Grigorovica is an experienced project group manager at Medical Education Technology Centre, Rīga Stradiņš University. She is also Ph.D. student in social sciences, specializing in management studies. Her research interests focus on management of human capital in healthcare to improve the quality of healthcare and safety of patients and healthcare professionals. 

Andreta Slavinska, Rīga Stradiņš University

Mg.iur. Andreta Slavinska, Deputy Director of the Medical Education Technology Center at RSU, specializes in developing simulation-based methods in medical education and has a keen scientific interest in healthcare safety, medical errors within legal contexts, and quality improvement in healthcare. As a doctoral student in "Law Sciences," she is working on her dissertation on the legal framework for detecting medical errors.

Guntis Bahs, Rīga Stradiņš University

Dr. prof. Guntis Bahs is an esteemed expert in Clinical Medicine and a member of the Latvian Council of Science. He serves as a professor in the Department of Internal Diseases at Rīga Stradiņš University and is a prolific author, contributing numerous scientific articles to the field.

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Published

2024-09-03