Service management is a growing field of research. However, pursuing service excellence in healthcare is a difficult balancing act with scarce resources. Bringing together our insights on the functioning of healthcare organisations and our knowledge on service and operations management has led to the theme for this book: ‘Service Management in Healthcare: A Balancing Act’. The book is meant for executives in the healthcare sector who are looking for suggestions on service excellence. It is also a useful handbook for students. Through many practical examples, this book tries to bridge the gap between academic knowledge and daily practice.