My primary research interest focusses on performance management issues in the field of healthcare. I find the area compelling because healthcare is costly and its outcomes are both tangible and intangible and it becomes challenging for these organisations to deal with the pressure to meet the demands of the regulatory control systems imposed upon them. Healthcare institutions have to deal with many issues as a result and draw widely on accounting technologies as they seek tools to manage the complexity within both their internal environment and in the context of external pressure. For instance, there is the assumption that performance measures to assess hospitals is of central importance. Similar to many other nations, the UK Legislation, for example, reinforces the view that the efficient use of resources in healthcare can be achieved by implementing management control mechanisms. My aim is to continue to examine the extent to which performance management is used in healthcare to control resources across nations. I am interested in understanding the nature of management control systems and to explore ways to improve them and, thus provide further information on how it might be used in the future in healthcare organisations, particularly hospitals.
