title: Managing different forms of distances in Dutch healthcare organizations: The relation between managers and professionals as a dynamic continuum of distance and proximity.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Dichotomous "gap" thinking about professionals and managers has important limits. The purpose of this paper is to study the specific ontology of "the gap" in which different forms of distances are defined.
  
  
  METHODS
  In order to deepen the knowledge of the actual day-to-day tasks of Dutch healthcare executives an ethnographic study of the daily work of Dutch healthcare executives and an ontological exploration of the concept "gap" was provided. The study empirically investigates the meaning given to the concept of "distance" in healthcare governance practices.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The study reveals that healthcare executives have to fulfil a dual role of maintaining distance and creating proximity. Coping with different forms of distances seems to be an integral part of their work. They make use of four potential mechanisms to cope with distance in their healthcare organization practices.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The relationship between managers and professionals is often defined as a dichotomous gap. The findings in this research suggest a more dynamic picture of the relationship between managers and professionals than is currently present in literature. This study moves "beyond" the gap and investigates processes of distancing in-depth.
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Policy & Management, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam, Netherlands.
authors.forename: Annemiek
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Stoopendaal
mesh_terms: D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D003695:Delivery of Health Care; D006270:Health Facility Administrators; D006282:Health Personnel; D006801:Humans; D007400:Interprofessional Relations; D007857:Leadership; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D009426:Netherlands; D010559:Personnel Management; D012933:Social Identification
keywords: Creating proximity; Dichotomous “gap” thinking; Distances; Healthcare governance; Management theory; Organizational ethnography