Representation of the hierarchical and functional structure of an ambulatory network of medical consultations through Social Network Analysis, with an emphasis on the role of medical specialties.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Ambulatory Health Care Networks (Amb-HCN) are circuits of patient referral and counter-referral that emerge, explicitly or spontaneously, between doctors who provide care in their offices. Finding a meaningful analytical representation for the organic and hierarchical functioning of an Amb-HCN may have managerial and health policymaking implications. We aimed to characterize the structural and functional topology of an Amb-HCN of a private health insurance provider (PHIP) using objective metrics from graph theory.

Methods

This is a cross-sectional quantitative study with a secondary data analysis study design. A Social Network Analysis (SNA) was conducted using office visits performed between April 1, 2021 and May 15, 2022, retrieved from secondary administrative

SUBMITTER: Biscione FM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10868750 | biostudies-literature | 2024

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature