Facing the Pandemic: The Italian Experience From Health Management Experts’ Perspective

• DOI: 10.1177/0275074020942428
• Published date: 01 August 2020
• Author: Simone Fanelli,Andrea Francesconi,Antonello Zangrandi,Gianluca Lanza
• Date: 01 August 2020
• Subject Matter: Comparative Governance During COVID-19: Lessons From Around the WorldComparative Management & Learning Techniques

https://doi.org/10.1177/0275074020942428

American Review of Public Administration

2020, Vol. 50(6-7) 753 –761

© The Author(s) 2020

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DOI: 10.1177/0275074020942428

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Comparative Management & Learning Techniques

Introduction

Factors, such as urbanization, globalization, biodiversity,

and ecological changes; the increase in global trade and

travel; growing inequality; and the lack of resilience of health

care systems, have boosted the development of new patho-

gens as well as their capacity to cross national borders and

threaten citizens’ health (Lederberg et al., 2003). It should

therefore have been no surprise that the infection caused by

the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) spread so quickly from

the metropolitan city of Wuhan, China, to the whole world

(Xu et al., 2020). In fact, only a few months had passed since

December 2019, when the first cases were recorded in

Wuhan, when the World Health Organization (WHO)

declared the world “pandemic” (March 11, 2020). The dis-

ease marched relentlessly westward until the WHO stated

that Europe was the center of the pandemic (March 13,

2020). However, the possibility of a global pandemic had

already been flagged by the WHO (Stoto et al., 2019).

In 1995, WHO revised International Health Regulations

(IHR) to guarantee mutual accountability for health security

among countries (WHO, 2008). IHR is an agreement that

involves 196 countries including all WHO Member States to

work together for global health security (www.who.int/ihr).

IHR were developed by the World Health Assembly in 1969

and covered six diseases. Over the years the IHR underwent

several modifications (1973, 1981), to include further dis-

eases such as cholera, yellow fever, and plague (WHO,

1983). But it was only in 1995 that the intensification of

international travel and trade, and worldwide spread of dis-

eases and other threats led to a substantial revision of IHR

(WHO, 2008). This revision, implemented on June 15, 2007,

extended the scope of diseases and related health events cov-

ered by the IHR to take into account almost all public health

942428ARPXXX10.1177/0275074020942428The American Review of Public AdministrationFanelli et al.

research-article2020

1University of Parma, Italy

2University of Trento, Italy

Corresponding Author:

Simone Fanelli, Department of Economics and Management, University of

Parma, Via J. F. Kennedy, 6, 43125, Parma (PR), Italy.

Email: simone.fanelli@unipr.it

Facing the Pandemic: The Italian

Experience From Health Management

Experts’ Perspective

Simone Fanelli1, Gianluca Lanza1, Andrea Francesconi2,

and Antonello Zangrandi1

Abstract

Globalization has boosted the development of new pathogens as well as their capacity to cross national borders and threaten

citizens’ health. It should therefore have been no surprise that the infection caused by COVID-19 spread so quickly from the

metropolitan city of Wuhan, China, to the whole world. Today, the COVID-19 pandemic represents the biggest health crisis

for many countries since the postwar period. The aggressiveness of the virus quickly led many countries to bring in strict

containment measures to limit the spread of the disease and particularly to reduce pressure on hospitals. Pandemics affect the

health care community in different ways, but all involve a bigger flow of patients into the system, compromising the proper

functioning of hospitals. Italy was the first Western country to be heavily affected by the virus. This article describes how

Italian health care organizations are facing the COVID-19 pandemic. A survey administered to health management experts

highlights the main problems and possible ways for health care organizations to cope with the health crisis more effectively.

Results highlight that the COVID-19 pandemic had a dramatic impact on health care organizations, forcing all hospitals to

modify structures and processes to guarantee an efficacious response to new patient care needs. The lack of specialized

resources, appropriate coordination tools, and clear plans for emergency management were the main problems faced by

hospitals. Italy’s experience could be useful to countries facing the crisis today, or those which will face it in the near future.

Keywords

health management, health care organizations, pandemic, health systems, Italy, COVID-19