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Article History

Received: 19 November 2025

Accepted: 12 August 2026

First Online: 19 August 2026

Declarations

Ethics approval and consent to participate: Although our study did not involve patients or medical interventions, we conducted the research in accordance with the general ethical principles of the Declaration of Helsinki, including respect for participants, informed consent, and data confidentiality. In Switzerland, the requirement for mandatory ethics committee approval is governed by the Swiss Human Research Act (HRA, RS 810.30) [46]. According to Article 2 of the HRA, the Act applies exclusively to research concerning human diseases or the structure and function of the human body and involving persons, biological material, or health-related personal data. Our study, focusing on healthcare management practices and professional experiences does not involve patient, medical interventions, biological material, or health-related personal data as defined by the Act, therefore falls outside of the scope of HRA and does not require submission to a Cantonal Ethics Committee confirmed by the University of Geneva Research Ethics Unit (CUREG). This is further supported by the Human Research Ordinance (HRO, RS 810.301, Article 3 and Article 25) [47], which specifies the types of data and research activities subject to ethics committee review. To ensure full compliance with ethical standards, we followed guidance from the University of Geneva Research Ethics Unit (CUREG), which confirmed that no formal ethics approval was required for this type of study, while emphasizing adherence to applicable ethical principles and data-protection legislation Data Protection Law (LIPAD RS A 2 08) [48]. Participants signed a consent form and were informed that the data would be analyzed anonymously and used for publication.

Consent for publication: Not applicable.

Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.