Ethical challenges for medical professionals in middle manager positions: a debate article

BACKGROUND: Demographic changes increase the financing needs of all social services. This change also generates new and complex demands on the medical staff. Accordingly, medical professionals in middle management positions hold a characteristic sandwich position between top management and the operational core. This sandwich position often constitutes new challenges. In the industrial field, the growing importance of the middle management for the company’s success has already been recognized. Accordingly, the growing demand on economy urges an analysis for the medical field. DISCUSSION: While there are nearly no differences in the nature of the tasks of medical middle manager in the areas of strategy, role function, performance pressure and qualifications compared to those tasks of the industrial sector, there are basic differences as well. Especially the character of “independence” of the medical profession and its ethical values justifies these differences. Consequently, qualification of medical professionals may not be solely based on medical academic career. It is also based on the personal ability or potential to lead and to manage. SUMMARY: Above all, the character of “independence” of the medical profession and its ethical values justifies medical action that is based on the patient’s well-being and not exclusively on economic outcomes. In the future, medical middle managers are supposed to achieve an optimized balance between a patient-centered medicine and economic measures. It will be a basic requirement that middle managers accept their position and the resultant tasks putting themselves in a more active position. Because of that, middle managers can become “value-added bridge-builders”.