Purpose

The purpose of this study is to provide insight into the roles of accounting in the management of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in five German hospitals.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors conducted three rounds of interviews, ethnographic observations of meetings and document analyses in five German hospitals between February and August 2020.

Findings

The authors found that actors repeatedly used a central set of indicators (the number of beds for COVID-19 patients) when adapting a healthcare infrastructure to the pandemic. Accounting figures allowed actors to problematize prior configurations, organize processes to make uncertainty plannable and virtualize changes to resume treating non-COVID-19 patients.

Practical implications

The authors offer suggestions about scenario planning and interorganizational learning which have implications for healthcare practitioners.

Originality/value

The authors contribute to the accounting in crisis literature by adding an organization-focused study. Adding nuance to key themes in the literature, they show how the organizations and the field level interact and how organizing locally preceded economizing. They also offer a nonbinary answer to the question of whether or not changes revert back to “normal” after a crisis event.

中文翻译：

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在COVID-19大流行期间组织护理：会计在德国医院中的作用

目的

这项研究的目的是深入了解会计在德国五家医院在管理冠状病毒（COVID-19）大流行中的作用。

设计/方法/方法

作者于2020年2月至2020年8月之间对五家德国医院进行了三轮访谈，人种学会议观察和文件分析。

发现

作者发现，在使医疗基础设施适应大流行时，参与者反复使用了一套中心指标（COVID-19患者的床位数）。会计数字允许参与者对先前的配置进行问题处理，组织流程以使不确定性可计划化以及虚拟化更改以恢复对非COVID-19患者的治疗。

实际影响

作者提供了有关方案规划和组织间学习的建议，这些建议对医疗保健从业者具有影响。

创意/价值

作者通过添加针对组织的研究，为危机文献中的会计工作做出了贡献。他们为文献中的关键主题增添了细微差别，它们展示了组织和领域之间的相互作用以及组织如何在本地进行优先节约。他们还对危机事件发生后变化是否恢复为“正常”这一问题提供了一个非二进制的答案。