Networks for integrated care provision: an economic approach based on opportunism and trust

In this paper, we provide the economic rationale for an important issue in the health care sector, namely the network formation, e.g., in The Netherlands. The presence of such cooperation structures is hard to explain using the basic concept of the economic organization (EO) theory, i.e., the dichotomy of hierarchy versus market. However, acknowledging the aspect of trust renders the clan concept to be a powerful tool in understanding the viability of intra- and inter-organizational cooperation in the health sector. The main reason for this is the manner in which the professionals involved perform, as well as the importance of the tacit knowledge of the actors employed in the various health institutions. First, we address the conversion from supply towards demand orientation and the resulting pressure on multi-professional cooperation between health care providers. Then, relevant EO concepts will be reviewed, while introducing theory on knowledge, learning, and trust. Moreover, we offer conclusions for the health care sector on a concept-by-concept basis. Finally, we propose the notion of interclan, a clan-inspired notion for inter-organizational cooperation, and analyse the observed network formation.