Effect of hospital referral networks on patient readmissions

Regional Collaboration and Trends in Clinical Management of Thyroid Cancer

OBJECTIVE

This study examines the trends in the management of thyroid cancer and clinical outcomes in the Southwestern region of The Netherlands from 2010 to 2021, where a regional collaborative network has been implemented in January 2016.

STUDY DESIGN

Retrospective cohort study.

SETTING

This study encompasses all patients diagnosed with thyroid cancer of any subtype between January 2010 and June 2021 in 10 collaborating hospitals in the Southwestern region of The Netherlands.

METHODS

The primary outcome of this study was the occurrence of postoperative complications. Secondary outcomes were trends in surgical management, centralization, and waiting times of patients with thyroid cancer.

RESULTS

This study included 1186 patients with thyroid cancer. Median follow-up was 58 [interquartile range: 24-95] months. Surgery was performed in 1027 (86.6%) patients. No differences in postoperative complications, such as long-term hypoparathyroidism, permanent recurrent nerve paresis, or reoperation due to bleeding were seen over time. The percentage of patients with low-risk papillary thyroid carcinoma referred to the academic hospital decreased from 85% (n = 120/142) in 2010 to 2013 to 70% (n = 120/171) in 2014 to 2017 and 62% (n = 100/162) in 2018 to 2021 (P < .01). The percentage of patients undergoing a hemithyroidectomy alone was 9% (n = 28/323) in 2010 to 2013 and increased to 20% (n = 63/317; P < .01) in 2018 to 2021.

CONCLUSION

The establishment of a regional oncological network coincided with a de-escalation of thyroid cancer treatment and centralization of complex patients and interventions. However, no differences in postoperative complications over time were observed. Determining the impact of regional oncological networks on quality of care is challenging in the absence of uniform quality indicators.

Return to sender: Unraveling the role of structural and social network ties in patient sharing networks

Healthcare is increasingly delivered through networks of organizations. Well-structured patient sharing networks are known to have positive associations with the quality of delivered services. However, the drivers of patient sharing relations are rarely studied explicitly. In line with recent developments in network and integration theorizing, we hypothesize that structural and social network ties between organizations are uniquely associated with a higher number of shared patients. We test these hypotheses using a Bayesian zero-dispersed Poisson regression model within the Additive and Multiplicative Effects Framework based on administrative claims data from 732,122 dermatological patients from the Netherlands in 2017. Our results indicate that 2.6% of all dermatological patients are shared and that the amount of shared patients is significantly associated with structural (i.e. emergency contracts) and social (i.e. shared physicians) ties between organizations, confirming our hypotheses. We also find some evidence that patients are shared with more capable organizations. Our findings highlight the role of relational ties in the way health services are delivered. At the same time, they also raise some potential anti-trust concerns.

Pediatric Patient Insurance Status and Regionalization of Admissions

BACKGROUND

Pediatric hospital care is becoming increasingly regionalized, and previous data have suggested that insurance may be associated with transfer. The aims of the study are to describe regionalization of pediatric care and density of the interhospital transfer network and to determine whether these varied by insurance status.

METHODS

Using the New York State ED Database and State Inpatient Database from 2016, we identified all pediatric patients and calculated regionalization indices (RI) and network density, overall and stratified by insurance. Regionalization indices are based on the likelihood of a patient completing care at the initial hospital. Network density is the proportion of actual transfers compared with the number of potential hospital transfer connections. Both were calculated using the standard State ED Database/State Inpatient Database transfer definition and in a sensitivity analysis, excluding the disposition code requirement.

RESULTS

We identified 1,595,566 pediatric visits (emergency department [ED] or inpatient) in New York in 2016; 7548 (0.5%) were transferred and 7374 transferred visits had eligible insurance status (Medicaid, private, uninsured). Of the transfers, 24% were from ED to ED with discharge, 28% from ED to ED with admission, 31% from ED to inpatient, 16% from inpatient to inpatient, and 1.2% from inpatient to ED. The overall RI was 0.25 (95% confidence interval [95% CI], 0.20-0.31). The overall weighted RI was 0.09 (95% CI, 0.06-0.12) and was 0.09 (95% CI, 0.06-0.13) for Medicaid-insured patients, 0.08 (95% CI, 0.05-0.11) for privately insured patients, and 0.08 (95% CI, 0.05-0.11) for patients without insurance. The overall network density was 0.018 (95% CI, 0.017-0.020). Network density was higher, and transfer rates were lower, for patients with Medicaid insurance as compared with private insurance.

CONCLUSIONS

We found significant regionalization of pediatric emergency care. Although there was not material variation by insurance in regionalization, there was variation in network density and transfer rates. Additional work is needed to understand factors affecting transfer decisions and how these patterns might vary by state.

Reasons for merging and collaborating in healthcare: Marriage or living apart together?

BACKGROUND

Across OECD countries, integration between healthcare organisations has become an indispensable part of contemporary healthcare provision. In recent years, inter-organisational collaboration has increasingly been encouraged in health and competition policy at the expense of mergers. Yet, understanding of whether healthcare organisations make an active choice between merging and collaborating is lacking. Hence, this study systematically examines (i) healthcare executives' motives for integration, (ii) their potential trade-offs between collaborating or merging, and (iii) the barriers to collaborating perceived by them.

METHODS

Early 2019, an online questionnaire was conducted among a nationwide panel of 714 healthcare executives in the Netherlands. Because of their strategic position within healthcare organisations as end-responsible managers, healthcare executives are especially suited to provide broad and in-depth knowledge on the internal and external processes and decisions. Three hundred thirty-seven Dutch healthcare executives completed the questionnaire (response rate 47%). This study sample was representative of the largest healthcare sectors in the Netherlands. In total, 137 mergers and 235 inter-organisational collaborations were reported. Both closed questions and open-ended questions were systematically analysed.

RESULTS

Improving or broadening healthcare provision is the foremost motive for mergers as well as inter-organisational collaborations. When considering both types, reducing governance complexity is one of the decisive reasons to opt for a merger, whereas aversion towards a full merger and lack of support base within the own organisation convinced healthcare executives to choose for a collaboration. When comparing specific healthcare sectors, the overlap in pursued motives and sub-motives indicates that inter-organisational collaborations and mergers are used for comparable objectives. Only a small minority of the responding executives switched between both types of integration. Institutional barriers, such as laws, regulations and financing regimes, appear to be the most restricting for healthcare executives to engage in inter-organisational collaborations.

CONCLUSIONS

Our integral approach and systematic comparison across sectors could serve policymakers, regulators and healthcare providers in aligning organisational objectives and societal objectives in decision-making on collaborations and mergers. Future research is recommended to study multiple collaboration and merger cases qualitatively for a detailed examination of decision-making by healthcare executives, and develop an integral assessment framework for balancing collaborations and mergers based on their effects in the medium to long term.

Evaluation of Orthopaedics and Traumatology Patients Referred From a Tertiary Hospital

Background This study aims to determine the rate of interhospital transfer, transfer diagnoses, where they were referred, and the reasons for the transfer of patients who presented to the emergency department and requested orthopaedic and traumatology consultations and to evaluate measures that may be effective in reducing the number of referrals for a more effective health service provision as a result of this information. Material and methods In this descriptive study, 59 patients were transferred to the emergency department of our hospital between January 1, 2019, and January 1, 2022, for whom orthopaedic and traumatology consultations were requested and for whom the orthopaedic physician requested transfer (training and research hospitals, university hospitals and private hospitals), and they were retrospectively evaluated. Results The ages of the study participants ranged from 1 to 91 years, with a mean age of 39.8 ± 20.9 years. Therefore, the majority of referred patients were male and Turkish citizens aged 18-65 years; there were no forensic cases; they were evaluated in the yellow area as a result of triage; and most of the transfers were from training and research hospitals and university hospitals, which are tertiary health institutions. On categorising patients based on their transfer diagnoses, it was found that patients with subtotal amputation of the finger were the most common among the referred patients. Conclusion To reduce the number of referrals, it is recommended to increase the standards in assistant training, especially in pelvis, acetabulum, and hand surgeries. It is also recommended to optimise material supply and skilled labour distribution.

What is the mind map of the hospital's future changes in a developing country like Iran? A qualitative study

BACKGROUND

Hospitals have a vital role in the future of health systems with upcoming structure, resources, and process changes. Identifying the potential aspects of change helps managers proactively approach them, use the opportunities, and avoid threats. This study presents a mind map of future changes in Iranian hospitals to develop a base for further related studies or prepare evidence for interventions and future-related decisions.

METHODS

This study is a qualitative-exploratory one, conducted in two phases. In the first phase, in-depth and semi-structured interviews were conducted to identify future hospital changes over 15 years. The interviews were analyzed using the content analysis method and MAXQDA 2018 software and holding two expert panels to develop the mind map using the 2016 Visio software.

RESULTS

In the first phase, 33 interviews led to 144 change patterns. In the second phase, a mind map of changes was drawn according to experts' opinions with ten categories: structure and role, knowledge management and research, service delivery, health forces, political and legal, economic, demographic and disease, technological, and values and philosophy, and environmental.

CONCLUSIONS

Many changes affecting hospitals rooted in the past continue to the future, but the point is the increasing intensity and speed of changes. Healthcare systems need a systematic approach to monitoring the environment to be updated, agile and proactive. These monitoring systems are essential in providing evidence for Macro-level decision-makers.

Establishing a Multicenter Network for Patients With Thyroid Nodules and Cancer: Effects on Referral Patterns

OBJECTIVE

To perform a qualitative evaluation of the Thyroid Network, with a quantitative analysis of second opinion referrals for patients in the southwestern part of the Netherlands who have thyroid nodules and cancer.

METHODS

This prospective observational study registered all patients with thyroid nodules and cancer who were referred to the academic hospital from 2 years before and 4 years after the foundation of the Thyroid Network. We implemented biweekly regional multidisciplinary tumor boards using video conference and a regional patient care pathway for patients with thyroid nodules and cancer. For qualitative evaluation, interviews were conducted with a broad selection of stakeholders via maximum variation sampling. The primary outcome was the change in second opinions after the foundation of the Thyroid Network.

RESULTS

Second opinions from Thyroid Network hospitals to the academic hospital decreased from 10 (30%) to 2 (7%) two years after the start of the Thyroid Network (P = .001), while patient referrals remained stable (n = 108 to 106). Qualitative evaluation indicated that the uniform care pathway and the regional multidisciplinary tumor board were valued high.

DISCUSSION

Establishing a regional network, including multidisciplinary tumor boards and a care pathway for patients with thyroid nodules and cancer, resulted in a decrease in second opinions of in-network hospitals and high satisfaction of participating specialists.

IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE

The concept of the Thyroid Network could spread to other regions as well as to other specialties in health care. Future steps would be to assess the effect of regional collaboration on quality of care and patient satisfaction.

A Bibliometric Analysis and Visualization of Decision Support Systems for Healthcare Referral Strategies

BACKGROUND

The referral process is an important research focus because of the potential consequences of delays, especially for patients with serious medical conditions that need immediate care, such as those with metastatic cancer. Thus, a systematic literature review of recent and influential manuscripts is critical to understanding the current methods and future directions in order to improve the referral process.

METHODS

A hybrid bibliometric-structured review was conducted using both quantitative and qualitative methodologies. Searches were conducted of three databases, Web of Science, Scopus, and PubMed, in addition to the references from the eligible papers. The papers were considered to be eligible if they were relevant English articles or reviews that were published from January 2010 to June 2021. The searches were conducted using three groups of keywords, and bibliometric analysis was performed, followed by content analysis.

RESULTS

A total of 163 papers that were published in impactful journals between January 2010 and June 2021 were selected. These papers were then reviewed, analyzed, and categorized as follows: descriptive analysis (n = 77), cause and effect (n = 12), interventions (n = 50), and quality management (n = 24). Six future research directions were identified.

CONCLUSIONS

Minimal attention was given to the study of the primary referral of blood cancer cases versus those with solid cancer types, which is a gap that future studies should address. More research is needed in order to optimize the referral process, specifically for suspected hematological cancer patients.

Charting a Course: A Research Agenda for Studying the Governance of Health Care Networks

Networked forms of organizing in health care are increasingly viewed as an effective means of addressing "wicked", multifaceted health and societal challenges. This is because networks attempt to address these challenges via collaborative approaches in which diverse stakeholders together define the problem(s) and implement solutions. Consequently, there has been a sharp increase in the number and types of networks used in health care. Despite this growth, our understanding of how these networks are governed has not kept pace. The purpose of this chapter is to chart a research agenda for scholars who are interested in studying health care network governance (i.e., the systems of rules and decision-making within networks), which is of particular importance in deliberate networks between organizations. We do so based on our knowledge of the literature and interviews with subject matter experts, both of which are used to identify core network governance concepts that represent gaps in our current knowledge. Our analysis identified various conceptualizations of networks and of their governance, as well as four primary knowledge gaps: "bread and butter" studies of network governance in health care, the role of single organizations in managing health care networks, governance through the life-cycle stages of health care networks, and governing across the multiple levels of health care networks. We first seek to provide some conceptual clarity around networks and network governance. Subsequently, we describe some of the challenges that researchers may confront while addressing the associated knowledge gaps and potential ways to overcome these challenges.

So Happy Together: A Review of the Literature on the Determinants of Effectiveness of Purpose-Oriented Networks in Health Care

While purpose-oriented networks are widely recognized as organizational forms to address wicked problems in health care such as increasing demands and expenditure, the associated literature is fragmented. We therefore reviewed empirical studies to identify the determinants of the effectiveness of these networks. Our search yielded 3,657 unique articles, of which 19 met our eligibility criteria. After backward snowballing and expert consultation, 33 articles were included. Results reveal no less than 283 determinants of effective health care networks. The majority of these determinants are processual and involving professionals from the operational level is particularly salient. In addition, most studies relate determinants to process outcomes (e.g., improved collaboration or sustainability of the network) and only a few to members' perception of whether the network attains its goals. We urge future research to adopt configurational approaches to identify which sets of determinants are associated with networks' ability to attain their goal of addressing wicked problems.

Beyond patient-sharing: Comparing physician- and patient-induced networks

The sharing of patients reflects collaborative relationships between various healthcare providers. Patient-sharing in the outpatient sector is influenced by both physicians' activities and patients' preferences. Consequently, a patient-sharing network arises from two distinct mechanisms: the initiative of the physicians on the one hand, and that of the patients on the other. We draw upon medical claims data to study the structure of one patient-sharing network by differentiating between these two mechanisms. Owing to the institutional requirements of certain healthcare systems rather following the Bismarck model, we explore different triadic patterns between general practitioners and medical specialists by applying exponential random graph models. Our findings imply deviation from institutional expectations and reveal structural realities visible in both networks.

Making sense of the French public hospital system: a network-based approach to hospital clustering using unsupervised learning methods

BACKGROUND

Hospitals in the public and private sectors tend to join larger organizations to form hospital groups. This increasingly frequent mode of functioning raises the question of how countries should organize their health system, according to the interactions already present between their hospitals. The objective of this study was to identify distinctive profiles of French hospitals according to their characteristics and their role in the French hospital network.

METHODS

Data were extracted from the national hospital database for year 2016. The database was restricted to public hospitals that practiced medicine, surgery or obstetrics. Hospitals profiles were determined using the k-means method. The variables entered in the clustering algorithm were: the number of stays, the effective diversity of hospital activity, and a network-based mobility indicator (proportion of stays followed by another stay in a different hospital of the same Regional Hospital Group within 90 days).

RESULTS

Three hospital groups were identified by the clustering algorithm. The first group was constituted of 34 large hospitals (median 82,100 annual stays, interquartile range 69,004 - 117,774) with a very diverse activity. The second group contained medium-sized hospitals (with a median of 258 beds, interquartile range 164 - 377). The third group featured less diversity regarding the type of stay (with a mean of 8 effective activity domains, standard deviation 2.73), a smaller size and a higher proportion of patients that subsequently visited other hospitals (11%). The most frequent type of patient mobility occurred from the hospitals in group 2 to the hospitals in group 1 (29%). The reverse direction was less frequent (19%).

CONCLUSIONS

The French hospital network is organized around three categories of public hospitals, with an unbalanced and disassortative patient flow. This type of organization has implications for hospital planning and infectious diseases control.

Inter-organizational collaboration between healthcare providers

Across OECD countries, healthcare organizations increasingly rely on inter-organizational collaboration (IOC). Yet, systematic insight into the relations across different healthcare sectors is lacking. The aim of this explorative study is twofold. First, to understand how IOC differs across healthcare sectors with regards to characteristics, motives and the role of health policy. Second, to understand which potential effects healthcare executives consider prior to the establishment of the collaborations. For this purpose, a survey was conducted among a representative panel of Dutch healthcare executives from medium-sized or large healthcare organizations. Almost half (n = 344, 48%) of the invited executives participated. Our results suggest that differences in policy changes and institutional developments across healthcare sectors affect the scope and type of IOC: hospitals generally operate in small horizontal collaborations, while larger and more complex mixed and non-horizontal collaborations are more present among nursing homes, disability care and mental care organizations. We find that before establishing IOCs, most healthcare executives conduct a self-assessment including the potential effects of the collaboration. The extensive overview of policy developments, collaboration types and intended outcomes presented in our study offers a useful starting point for a more in-depth assessment of the effectiveness of collaborations among healthcare organizations.

Dispersion in the hospital network of shared patients is associated with less efficient care

BACKGROUND

There is growing recognition that health care providers are embedded in networks formed by the movement of patients between providers. However, the structure of such networks and its impact on health care are poorly understood.

PURPOSE

We examined the level of dispersion of patient-sharing networks across U.S. hospitals and its association with three measures of care delivered by hospitals that were likely to relate to coordination.

METHODOLOGY/APPROACH

We used data derived from 2016 Medicare Fee-for-Service claims to measure the volume of patients that hospitals treated in common. We then calculated a measure of dispersion for each hospital based on how those patients were concentrated in outside hospitals. Using this measure, we created multivariate regression models to estimate the relationship between network dispersion, Medicare spending per beneficiary, readmission rates, and emergency department (ED) throughput rates.

RESULTS

In multivariate analysis, we found that hospitals with more dispersed networks (those with many low-volume patient-sharing relationships) had higher spending but not greater readmission rates or slower ED throughput. Among hospitals with fewer resources, greater dispersion related to greater readmission rates and slower ED throughput. Holding an individual hospital's dispersion constant, the level of dispersion of other hospitals in the hospital's network was also related to these outcomes.

CONCLUSION

Dispersed interhospital networks pose a challenge to coordination for patients who are treated at multiple hospitals. These findings indicate that the patient-sharing network structure may be an overlooked factor that shapes how health care organizations deliver care.

PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS

Hospital leaders and hospital-based clinicians should consider how the structure of relationships with other hospitals influences the coordination of patient care. Effective management of this broad network may lead to important strategic partnerships.

Exploiting Inter-Organizational Relationships in Health Care: A Bibliometric Analysis and Literature Review

Inter-organizational relationships are high on the health policy agenda. Scholars and practitioners have provided heterogeneous views about the triggers of collaborative practices and the success factors that underpin the sustainability of inter-organizational relationships in the health care domain. The article proposes a literature review aimed at systematizing current scientific research that contextualizes inter-organizational relationships to health care. A mixed approach was undertaken, which consisted of a bibliometric analysis followed by a narrative literature review. A tailored search strategy on Elsevier’s Scopus yielded 411 relevant records, which were carefully screened for inclusion in this study. After screening, 105 papers were found to be consistent with the study purposes and included in this literature review. The findings emphasize that the establishment and implementation of inter-organizational relationships in health care are affected by several ambiguities, which concern both the governance and the structuring of collaborative relationships. The viability and the success of inter-organizational relationships depend on the ability of both central and peripheral partners to acknowledge and address such ambiguities. Failure to do so involves an opportunistic participation to inter-organizational relationships. This endangers conflicting behaviors rather than collaboration among partners.

Key dimensions of collaboration quality in mental health care service networks

Appropriate care delivery for patients with severe mental illness (SMI) requires a high level of collaboration quality between primary, mental health, and social care services. Few studies have addressed the interpersonal and inter-organizational components of collaboration within one unique study setting and it is unclear how these components contribute to overall collaboration quality. Using a comprehensive model that includes ten key indicators of collaboration in relation to both components, we evaluated how interpersonal and inter-organizational collaboration quality were associated in 19 networks that included 994 services across Belgium. Interpersonal collaboration was significantly higher than inter-organizational collaboration. Despite the internal consistency of the model, analysis showed that respondents perceived a conflict between client-centered care and leadership in the network. Our results reveal two approaches to collaborative service networks, one relying on interpersonal interactions and driven by client needs and another based on formalization and driven by governance procedures. The results reflect a lack of strategy on the part of network leaders for supporting client-centered care and hence, the persistence of the high level of fragmentation that networks were expected to address. Policy-makers should pay more attention to network formalization and governance mechanisms with a view to achieving effective client-centered outcomes.

Quantification of the resilience of primary care networks by stress testing the health care system

We shock a full-scale simulation model of a national health care system by locally removing health care providers. We measure resilience of the system in terms of how fast and to what extent it can recover its ability to deliver adequate health services to the population. The model is based on actual regional primary care networks in Austria, where all patients and physicians are represented as anonymized avatars that are calibrated with nationwide data. After removal of a critical fraction of physicians, networks generically undergo a transition from resilient to nonresilient behavior, where it is impossible to maintain coverage for all patients. These “stress tests” allow us to quantify regional health care resilience and identify systemically risky health care providers.

There are practically no quantitative tools for understanding how much stress a health care system can absorb before it loses its ability to provide care. We propose to measure the resilience of health care systems with respect to changes in the density of primary care providers. We develop a computational model on a 1-to-1 scale for a countrywide primary care sector based on patient-sharing networks. Nodes represent all primary care providers in a country; links indicate patient flows between them. The removal of providers could cause a cascade of patient displacements, as patients have to find alternative providers. The model is calibrated with nationwide data from Austria that includes almost all primary care contacts over 2 y. We assign 2 properties to every provider: the “CareRank” measures the average number of displacements caused by a provider’s removal (systemic risk) as well as the fraction of patients a provider can absorb when others default (systemic benefit). Below a critical number of providers, large-scale cascades of patient displacements occur, and no more providers can be found in a given region. We quantify regional resilience as the maximum fraction of providers that can be removed before cascading events prevent coverage for all patients within a district. We find considerable regional heterogeneity in the critical transition point from resilient to nonresilient behavior. We demonstrate that health care resilience cannot be quantified by physician density alone but must take into account how networked systems respond and restructure in response to shocks. The approach can identify systemically relevant providers.

Exploring the role of hospitals and office-based physicians in timely provision of statins following acute myocardial infarction: a secondary analysis of a nationwide cohort using cross-classified multilevel models

OBJECTIVES

To examine the role of hospitals and office-based physicians in empirical networks that deliver care to the same population with regard to the timely provision of appropriate care after hospital discharge.

DESIGN

Secondary data analysis of a nationwide cohort using cross-classified multilevel models.

SETTING

Transition from hospital to ambulatory care.

PARTICIPANTS

All patients discharged for acute myocardial infarction (AMI) from Germany's largest statutory health insurance fund group in 2011.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE

Patients' odds of receiving a statin prescription within 30 days after hospital discharge.

RESULTS

We found significant variation in 30-day statin prescribing between hospitals (median OR (MOR) 1.40; 95% credible interval (CrI) 1.36 to 1.45), hospital-physician pairs caring for the same patients (MOR 1.32; 95% CrI 1.26 to 1.38) and to a lesser extent between physicians (MOR 1.14; 95% CrI 1.11 to 1.19). About 67% of the variance between hospital-physician pairs and about 45% of the variance between hospitals was explained by hospital characteristics including a rural location, teaching status and the number of beds, the number of patients shared between a hospital and an office-based physician as well as 16 patient characteristics, including multimorbidity and dementia. We found no impact of physician characteristics.

CONCLUSIONS

Timely prescription of appropriate secondary prevention pharmacotherapy after AMI is subject to considerable practice variation which is not consistent with clinical guidelines. Hospitals contribute more to the observed variation than physicians, and most of the variation lies at the patient level. To ensure care continuity for patients, it is important to strengthen hospital capacity for discharge management and coordination between hospitals and office-based physicians.

Guiding interoperable electronic health records through patient-sharing networks

Effective sharing of clinical information between care providers is a critical component of a safe, efficient health system. National data-sharing systems may be costly, politically contentious and do not reflect local patterns of care delivery. This study examines hospital attendances in England from 2013 to 2015 to identify instances of patient sharing between hospitals. Of 19.6 million patients receiving care from 155 hospital care providers, 130 million presentations were identified. On 14.7 million occasions (12%), patients attended a different hospital to the one they attended on their previous interaction. A network of hospitals was constructed based on the frequency of patient sharing between hospitals which was partitioned using the Louvain algorithm into ten distinct data-sharing communities, improving the continuity of data sharing in such instances from 0 to 65-95%. Locally implemented data-sharing communities of hospitals may achieve effective accessibility of clinical information without a large-scale national interoperable information system.

Model for allocation of medical specialists in a hospital network

Introduction

As human diseases are becoming increasingly complex, the need for medical specialist consultation is more pronounced, and innovative ways to allocate medical specialists in hospital networks are essential. This study aimed to construct allocation models using a multi-objective programming approach in a large private hospital network in Thailand.

Methods

Our study included 13 medical specialist types in four main disease groups of the Bangkok Dusit Medical Services network. Mixed-integer linear programming models were developed using inputs from a modified Delphi survey of executives, the Physician Engagement Survey, and the Physician Registry (PR) databases and featuring three objectives: 1) minimizing travel expense, 2) optimizing physician engagement, and 3) maximizing the chance of direct patient encounters with respective medical specialists who were formally qualified for the clinical complexity of the patients, as measured by the case mix index (CMI).

Results

The constructed models included the core components but varied by a combination of whether part-time medical specialists are included or not (noPT) and whether CMI is included (CMI) or not (noCMI). Because the noPT + CMI model had the highest capability to solve for specialist allocation, it was further improved for some specialist types in terms of flexibility for sensitivity analysis of the variables. Moreover, to assess the feasibility and practicality of the models, a web-based system incorporating the final model was developed to support the central executives' decision to allocate medical specialists to the network, especially for finding the most optimal and timely solution for widespread shortages.

Conclusion

The linear programming models that accommodate critical components for allocating medical specialists in the hospital network were feasible and practical for the central executives' timely decision making. The models could be further tested for their application in hospitals in the public sector or other private hospital networks.

A scoping review of patient-sharing network studies using administrative data

There is a robust literature examining social networks and health, which draws on the network traditions in sociology and statistics. However, the application of social network approaches to understand the organization of health care is less well understood. The objective of this work was to examine approaches to conceptualizing, measuring, and analyzing provider patient-sharing networks. These networks are constructed using administrative data in which pairs of physicians are considered connected if they both deliver care to the same patient. A scoping review of English language peer-reviewed articles in PubMed and Embase was conducted from inception to June 2017. Two reviewers evaluated article eligibility based upon inclusion criteria and abstracted relevant data into a database. The literature search identified 10,855 titles, of which 63 full-text articles were examined. Nine additional papers identified by reviewing article references and authors were examined. Of the 49 papers that met criteria for study inclusion, 39 used a cross-sectional study design, 6 used a cohort design, and 4 were longitudinal. We found that studies most commonly theorized that networks reflected aspects of collaboration or coordination. Less commonly, studies drew on the strength of weak ties or diffusion of innovation frameworks. A total of 180 social network measures were used to describe the networks of individual providers, provider pairs and triads, the network as a whole, and patients. The literature on patient-sharing relationships between providers is marked by a diversity of measures and approaches. We highlight key considerations in network identification including the definition of network ties, setting geographic boundaries, and identifying clusters of providers, and discuss gaps for future study.

Organizing Health Care Networks: Balancing Markets, Government and Civil Society

Much is changing in health care organization today. A perspective or paradigm that is gaining ever increasing momentum is that of translational, extramural and integrated care. Current research suggests many potential benefits for integrated care and health care networks but the ethical issues are less frequently emphasized. Showing that integrated care can be beneficial, does not mean it is automatically ethically justified. We will argue for three ethical requirements such health care networks should meet. Subsequently we will look at the mechanisms driving the formation of networks and examine how these can cause networks to meet or fail to meet these ethical requirements or obligations. The three mechanisms we will examine are government, civil society and market mechanisms, which, we argue, should be balanced properly. Each mechanism is able to provide a relevant ethical perspective to health care networks. However, when the balance is skewed towards a single mechanism, health care networks might fail to promote one or more of the ethical requirements.

Optimal Network for Patients with Severe Mental Illness: A Social Network Analysis

It is still unclear what the optimal structure of mental health care networks should be. We examine whether certain types of network structure have been associated with improved continuity of care and greater social integration. A social network survey was carried out, covering 954 patients across 19 mental health networks in Belgium in 2014. We found continuity of care to be associated with large, centralized, and homophilous networks, whereas social integration was associated with smaller, centralized, and heterophilous networks. Two important goals of mental health service provision, continuity of care and social integration, are associated with different types of network. Further research is needed to ascertain the direction of this association.

Exploring the networking behaviors of hospital organizations

Background

Despite an extensive body of knowledge exists on network outcomes and on how hospital network structures may contribute to the creation of outcomes at different levels of analysis, less attention has been paid to understanding how and why hospital organizational networks evolve and change. The aim of this paper is to study the dynamics of networking behaviors of hospital organizations.

Methods

Stochastic actor-based model for network dynamics was used to quantitatively examine data covering six-years of patient transfer relations among 35 hospital organizations. Specifically, the study investigated about determinants of patient transfer evolution modeling partner selection choice as a combination of multiple organizational attributes and endogenous network-based processes.

Results

The results indicate that having overlapping specialties and treating patients with the same case-mix decrease the likelihood of observing network ties between hospitals. Also, results revealed as geographical proximity and membership of the same LHA have a positive impact on the networking behavior of hospitals organizations, there is a propensity in the network to choose larger hospitals as partners, and to transfer patients between hospitals facing similar levels of operational uncertainty.

Conclusions

Organizational attributes (overlapping specialties and case-mix), institutional factors (LHA), and geographical proximity matter in the formation and shaping of hospital networks over time. Managers can benefit from the use of these findings by clearly identifying the role and strategic positioning of their hospital with respect to the entire network. Social network analysis can yield novel information and also aid policy makers in the formation of interventions, encouraging alliances among providers as well as planning health system restructuring.

Applications of network analysis to routinely collected health care data: a systematic review

Objective

To survey network analyses of datasets collected in the course of routine operations in health care settings and identify driving questions, methods, needs, and potential for future research.

Materials and Methods

A search strategy was designed to find studies that applied network analysis to routinely collected health care datasets and was adapted to 3 bibliographic databases. The results were grouped according to a thematic analysis of their settings, objectives, data, and methods. Each group received a methodological synthesis.

Results

The search found 189 distinct studies reported before August 2016. We manually partitioned the sample into 4 groups, which investigated institutional exchange, physician collaboration, clinical co-occurrence, and workplace interaction networks. Several robust and ongoing research programs were discerned within (and sometimes across) the groups. Little interaction was observed between these programs, despite conceptual and methodological similarities.

Discussion

We use the literature sample to inform a discussion of good practice at this methodological interface, including the concordance of motivations, study design, data, and tools and the validation and standardization of techniques. We then highlight instances of positive feedback between methodological development and knowledge domains and assess the overall cohesion of the sample.

Understanding specialist sharing: A mixed-method exploration in an increasingly price-competitive hospital market

INTRODUCTION

Medical specialists seem to increasingly work in- and be affiliated to- multiple organizations. We define this phenomenon as specialist sharing. This form of inter-organizational cooperation has received scant scholarly attention. We investigate the extent of- and motives behind- specialist sharing, in the price-competitive hospital market of the Netherlands.

METHODS

A mixed-method was adopted. Social network analysis was used to quantitatively examine the extent of the phenomenon. The affiliations of more than 15,000 medical specialists to any Dutch hospital were transformed into 27 inter-hospital networks, one for each medical specialty, in 2013 and in 2015. Between February 2014 and February 2016, 24 semi-structured interviews with 20 specialists from 13 medical specialties and four hospital executives were conducted to provide in-depth qualitative insights regarding the personal and organizational motives behind the phenomenon.

RESULTS

Roughly, 20% of all medical specialists are affiliated to multiple hospitals. The phenomenon occurs in all medical specialties and all Dutch hospitals share medical specialists. Rates of specialist sharing have increased significantly between 2013 and 2015 in 14 of the 27 specialties. Personal motives predominantly include learning, efficiency, and financial benefits. Increased workload and discontinuity of care are perceived as potential drawbacks. Hospitals possess the final authority to decide whether and which specialists are shared. Adhering to volume norms and strategic considerations are seen as their main drivers to share specialists.

DISCUSSION

We conclude that specialist sharing should be interpreted as a form of inter-organizational cooperation between healthcare organizations, facilitating knowledge flow between them. Although quality improvement is an important perceived factor underpinning specialist sharing, evidence of enhanced quality of care is anecdotal. Additionally, the widespread occurrence of the phenomenon and the underlying strategic considerations could pose an antitrust infringement.