Reimagining how we develop leaders for healthcare’s evolving digital/data ecosystem: Implications for graduate programs in health administration

Abstract

Objective: The evolving healthcare landscape, driven by digital transformation and increasing reliance on emerging Artificial Intelligence-derived tools, calls for a reassessment of the competencies required for effective healthcare leadership. Traditional healthcare administration and informatics programs may no longer meet the current and future complexity of the contemporary healthcare system. This study examines how graduate healthcare administration programs could adapt to better equip future leaders with leadership, management, and technical skills.
Methods: The research draws on three sources of information that were analyzed by the authors: (1) a comparison of the National Center for Health Leadership Competency Model 3.0TM and the American Medical Informatics Association Health Informatics Core Competencies; (2) analyses of opportunities to integrate health informatics in general and artificial intelligence (AI), in particular - into healthcare administration education competencies; and (3) insights from interviews with 55 C-suite executives from 33 U.S. nonprofit health systems.
Results: There are areas for integrating and synthesizing competencies from health care and informatics disciplines. In addition, AI may be integrated across a variety of competencies and learning activities. Future executives will require the ability to integrate technology and informatics knowledge and skills into management and leadership competencies, skills, and behaviors.
Conclusions: To prepare healthcare leaders for the digital age, educational programs must integrate informatics and AI-driven technologies into their curricula. This includes a focus on data analytics, financial training, regulatory knowledge, and change management. The study calls for a reimagined approach to healthcare education that ensures leaders are equipped to thrive in an increasingly data-driven and regulated environment.

Keywords

Leadership / Competencies / Healthcare executives / Digital technology / Alignment / Regulatory environment / Financial acumen / Change management / Artificial intelligence

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors would like to acknowledge funding from The Scottsdale Institute and the health system executives who participated in this study.

AUTHORS CONTRIBUTIONS

Conceptualization: Kim DH; Data curation: Lemak CH, Boren S; Formal analysis: Kim DH, Boren S; Investigation: Kim DH, Lemak CH, Boren S; Methodology: Kim DH, Lemak CH; Validation: Kim DH, Boren S; Visualization: Lemak CH, Boren S; Writing - original draft: Kim DH; Writing - review & editing: Kim DH, Lemak CH, Boren S.

FUNDING

The Scottsdale Institute provided financial support for this project.

CONFLICTS OF INTEREST DISCLOSURE

The authors declare they have no conflicts of interest.

INFORMED CONSENT

Not applicable.

ETHICS APPROVAL

The journal’s policies adhere to the Core Practices established by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

PROVENANCE AND PEER REVIEW

Not commissioned; externally double-blind peer reviewed.

DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT

The data supporting the findings of this study will be made available upon reasonable request to the corresponding author. Access to the data may be granted based on the nature of the request and in compliance with relevant ethical and institutional guidelines. DATA SHARING STATEMENT No additional data are available.

OPEN ACCESS

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

COPYRIGHTS

Copyright for this article is retained by the author(s), with first publication rights granted to the journal.

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