ABSTRACT
Innovative methods of diagnosis and prevention play a key role in the survival of healthcare systems as well as the wellbeing of patients. Effective healthcare management is a critical factor in implementing hospital innovation. Healthcare executive (HE) personal and job characteristics such as age and seniority have been found to affect innovative decision-making. However, no study has yet investigated age and seniority effects on the propensity to implement innovation in health prevention strategies. This study fills the literature gap by providing evidence for the effect of HE age and seniority on the implementation of innovative methods for diagnosis and prevention. Predicated on 57 in-depth interviews with HEs, we employ mixed methods research, combining qualitative and quantitative analysis. Structural Equation Modeling was used to test the model's goodness-of-fit. Results show that while HE age and number of years in the organization positively affect job tenure, job tenure, in turn, negatively affects willingness to implement innovative methods of diagnosis and prevention in hospitals. This study extends the Upper-Echelon Theory to health workforce management. Practical implications are discussed.
