Dual Agency: A Fresh Perspective to Identify Dilemma Mitigation Strategies. A Response to the Recent Commentaries

We were pleased to read the eight commentaries on our paper entitled Dual agency in hospitals: how do managers and physicians reconcile clinical and economic considerations?1, and are happy to respond to them in this short correspondence. It was interesting to see how our article created a broad echo, and was relevant to various disciplines, ranging from medical ethics2 to sociology of professions3, management of organizations4 , to name a few. Commentaries originate from several European countries (Spain, the Netherlands, Sweden, Germany, Norway, and the UK), Singapore and Australia (see Table 1). The variety of countries, disciplines and theories to which the commentators refer, reflect the strength of our interdisciplinary work, and the extent to which it was generalizable to other contexts and health care systems. Our paper combines theories and concepts from sociology of organizations, sociology of professions, and health economics, providing a rich and complex perspective of hospitals as organizations and the dynamics of their workers. While it is not always easy for authors from one discipline to incorporate theories and thinking from another, it opens opportunities to look at a phenomenon through new lenses.

Automated summary

The commentaries on the paper show the broad impact and interdisciplinary nature of the study. It combines theories and concepts from sociology, economics, and management to provide a comprehensive perspective on hospitals as organizations and the dynamics of their workers.