The European Association of Hospital Managers (EAHM) has been founded in 1970 under French law. It is the umbrella association for 19 leading hospital management associations in 18 European countries representing over 16,000 individual members. The EAHM serves explicitly and exclusively the public interest. It does not pursue any political, economical nor confessional goals.
The EAHM is one of the world’s largest hospital management associations. It represents both the hospital managers of public and private hospitals in the Europrean Union and at international level. Targeting the construction of a social Europe, the EAHM elaborates proposals regarding the hospital sector to the European authorities. The EAHM is also an interlocutor for the health care industry.
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EAHM is composed of full members and associate members
Full Members are national organisations or, if there are none, regional but nationally important associations or groups of hospital managers, regardless of their legal form.
National associations of the following countries are member of EAHM:
Bundeskonferenz der Krankenhaus-Manager Österreichs (BUKO)
BVZD-ABDH-BVKD Belgian Association of Hospital Managers
Regional Association Of Hospitals"Stara Planina"
Schweizerische Vereinigung der Spitaldirektoren (FSDH - SVS) Swiss Association of Hospital Directors - section
Verband der Krankenhausdirektoren Deutschlands e.V (VKD)
Dansk Selskab for ledelse i Sundhedsvæsenet (DSS) The Danish Association of Healthcare Management
Sociedad Española de Directivos de la Salud Spanish Association of Hospital Directors
Terveys ja talous r.y. Finnish Association of Hospital Economics
Le Syndicat des manageurs publics de santé (SMPS)
Association Française des Directeurs d'Etabl. Sanitaire et Sociaux Privés à but non lucratif (AFRADESS)
L'association des Directeurs d'Hôpital (ADH)
Institute of Healthcare Management (IHM)
Institute of Healthcare Management - Northern Ireland (IHM NI)
Ελληνική Εταιρεία Management Υπηρεσιών Υγείας (ΕΕΜΥΥ) Hellenic Health Services Management Association (HHSMA)
Udruga poslodavaca u zdravstvu (UPUZ) Croatian Health Employers' Association (CHEA)
Egészségügyi Gazdasági Vezetõk Egyesülete (EGVE) Association Of The Economic Managers Of Health
Health Management Institute of Ireland (HMI)
Félag Forstödumanna Sjukrahusa a Islandi (FFS) Icelandic Association of Hospital Managers
Associazione Nazionale dei Medici delle Direzioni Ospedaliere (A.N.M.D.O.) The National Association of Physicians of the Hospital Management
Lietuvos gydytojų vadovų sąjunga (LGSV) Association of Hospital Managers Physicians of Lithuania
Fédération des Hôpitaux Luxembourgeois (FHL) Federation of the Luxembourg Hospitals
Nederlandse Vereniging van Bestuurders in de Gezondheidszorg (NVZD)
Bestuurders Curatieve Zorg Nederland (BCZN)
Norsk Sykehus- og Helsetjenesteforening (NSH) The Norwegian Hospital and Healthservice Assosiation
Polskiego Stowarzyszenia Dyrektorów Szpitali (PSDS) Polish Association of Hospital Directors
Associacao Portuguesa de Administradores Hospitalares (APAH)
Asociácia nemocníc Slovenska (ANS) Hospital Association of Slovakia
Associate Members
Associate Members are:
Managers and senior employees in hospitals in European countries, who are members of a national association of hospital managers affiliated to the EAHM.
Representative national associations or groups of managers and senior hospital employees in European countries that have lodged an application for full membership with the EAHM. In this case, the maximum period of associate membership is two years from the date of receipt of the membership application by the General Assembly.
Public or private bodies or leading figures in hospital and public health management in European and non-European countries.
Hhochstrasser GMBH
Centrum voor Ziekenhuis- en Verplegingswetenschap - K.U.Leuven (CZV) Centre for Health Services and Nursing Research- Leuven University
CKM - Centrum für Krankenhaus-Management (CKM) Center for Hospital-Management
Entscheiderfabrik
Joint Commission International
Academisch Ziekenhuis Maastricht (AZM) University Hospital Maastricht (AZM)
Arcadis (Arcadis)
Discussion Themes
The job responsibilities of the hospital managers and CEOs are broad and cover many topics. These are partly addressed in various ways in the different European countries. It is therefore interesting to learn from each other. The EAHM offers for this a discussion and exchange forum.
Here are some of the topics under discussion:
Defining the mission and the vision of the hospital
Strategic planning, given the changing needs and (legislative and financial) framework
The guidance of the social legitimacy of the hospital, especially the accessibility for patients and fair treatment of all patients
The justification of the achieved clinical and financial performance of the hospital and giving account to the higher authorities and the public
The evaluation of management
The content and concept of public-relations and internal communications
The complaint and conflict management
Appointment, dismissal and management of hospital physicians
Setting remuneration and/or fees of hospital physicians and other staff
Management of purchases and investments as well as their financial models
In addition, there are some European topics that are worth knowing, or are already influencing the national framework:
the diversity of health care systems and cultures
best practice and excellence within European health care systems
the European economical market and the Social Europe
patient mobility and cross-border cooperation
the strong interest of Europe in quality of live and environment.
From this enumeration, the following themes have been chosen :
Quality Management
Private and public hospitals
Hospital governance
Quality Management
The improving quality of care is done through Quality management. Quality management can be described as "'a procedure explicitly designed to monitor, assess and improve the quality of care', for example peer review, patient satisfaction surveys, complaints handling, audits, compiling a quality manual, etc".
Common components found in Quality Management systems are:
Indicators & standards
Evaluation process: Internal / External
Improvement process
Regarding the indicators & standards, European (framework of ) standards can be of great help in developing and implementing standards.
The principal models of external evaluation are:
Medical speciality-driven visitation
European Quality Awards based on the model of the European Foundation of Quality Management (EFQM)
Certification using International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) standards
Traditional accreditation against explicit standards
EAHM calls for a "European Accreditation Model". This European Accreditation Model
…is not about a fully-fledged harmonisation of healthcare practices, but a gradual alignment
…has the aim of defining and sharing best practice and defining relevant guidelines
…can encompass differences but not contradictions in systems
focuses on the continuous improvement of quality standards in Europe and reduces existing variations in quality
Hospital Governance in Europe
The economic crisis and several scandals have increased recently the interest of the public in the corporate governance. In health care, governance is since long a crucial element in the organisation and management of hospitals. Given the evolution of health care and the specific situation of hospitals, EAHM has taken the topic of hospital governance on its agenda.
Two directions has been followed until now.
1. The topic of hospital governance needs more in-depth analysis. Therefore EAHM supported the research in this field through its scientific subcommittee. 2. Creating awareness and dissemination of scientific results through our magazine "Hospital" and our congress.
Further actions are in discussion. We invite our members to share their views in this field.
Public & private cooperation
The Context
Most countries in Europe have evolved to a mixed system with 2 or 3 types of hospitals: public, private not-for profit and private for profit hospitals. Hospital managers in the different countries throughout Europe each have their own experiences with public and private activities. Private hospitals are often obliged to take part in the public service while public hospitals are trying to develop private activities to remain within their budget. Hospital managers also come under different pressures, from financial constraints to external accountability.
Therefore benchmarking could prove extremely useful for hospital managers. It would be interesting for hospital managers to benchmark the different possibilities for organising the current and future delivery of care in their hospitals.
What are the differences (and impact) on the level of quality, equity, budget etc? What is the best solution for the patient? Is outsourcing of specific activities in public hospitals a good solution? What is the best evolution for organising healthcare given the financial crisis? What is the impact of the financial crisis on the working conditions for private and public hospitals?