TITLE:
Sustainable Health Care Management in the Greek Health Care Sector
AUTHORS:
Anastasios Sepetis
KEYWORDS:
Sustainable Development Goals, Sustainable Health Care, Sustainable Hospital, Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Policies, Corporate Social Responsibility
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Social Sciences,
Vol.7 No.12,
December
26,
2019
ABSTRACT: The
international health care system, as well as the Greek health care system under
the current climate change problems and the sustainable development goals
solutions just begin to understand the impact that environmental and social
issues will have on health care services. Greek hospitals and the Greek health
care system have the potential not only to adapt to climate change, but also in
the process to promote social value, greater social equity and environmental
health through sustainable development goals. At the same time, based on a
different perspective, social responsibility, environmental management and
governance are at the forefront of attention, not only as the most up-to-date
characteristics of a hospital strategy, but also in relation to national and
international economic policies aiming for better economic results for local
communities and stakeholders. In other words, environmental, social and
governance issues are today incorporated to sustainable hospital management and
have already become part of the Greek Sustainable Health Care System. In this
paper the literature review suggests that sustainable health care could be a
driver of sustainability in the health care system and specifically in the
Greek Hospitals. The empirical research analysis in the Greek hospitals
recognized that in the recent years remarkable steps for environmental and
social issues have been made. However, according to sustainable management theory,
as this is referred in the paper, in order to achieve sustainability in the
Greek health care system through sustainable health care management, is
necessary to promote, rebuild and adapt the health care system to a concrete
holistic sustainable health care management, which is supported and evaluated
by the Greek Ministry of Health and the Greek health care market.