Driving Performance: An Evaluation of Healthcare Leadership Effectiveness in Public Hospitals.

Evaluating the effectiveness of healthcare leadership (HCL) in various healthcare settings and contexts is crucial to organizational performance and overall success. This study aimed to evaluate the healthcare leadership effectiveness and identify its attributes among leaders in public health hospitals. To achieve this objective, we conducted a systematic literature review (SLR) to identify and synthesize the core capabilities and ingredients that enhance effective leadership practices in the healthcare sector, alongside to the critical skills and components that bolster leadership practices within the healthcare industry. Consequently, the researchers adopted a mixed-methods design, combining the use of both qualitative and quantitative approaches to develop robust, situationally grounded insights into leadership dynamics within healthcare organizations. The researchers designed a structured survey questionnaire with standardized questions that were collaboratively refined in terms of language and sequence by internationally recognized competencies of healthcare, experts in national health systems, and the Health Care Accreditation Council (HCAC). In total, 322 healthcare leaders from public hospitals were enrolled in this study. The study identifies core competencies, such as employee development, resilience, and patient safety (first quartile means). Lower performance in strategic areas—financial management, digital technologies, and alliances (fourth quartile)—highlights the systemic gaps in LMIC contexts. An established and validated novel HCAC leadership competency self-assessment framework informed by global tools and experts was validated and paired with SMART action plans to empower targeted leadership transformation, aiming to elevate healthcare quality and outcomes in LMIC settings.