Building clinical networks: a developmental evaluation framework.

Area of Science:

• Health services research
• Organizational network analysis
• Healthcare management

Background:

• Clinical networks are cross-organizational structures for health service planning and delivery.
• Concerns about the effectiveness of clinical networks necessitate evidence-informed development and evaluation approaches.

Purpose of the Study:

• To document an evaluation framework for clinical networks.
• To synthesize findings from network evaluation literature and a 5-year clinical network study.

Main Methods:

• Literature search across network evaluation, development facilitators/inhibitors, and network characteristic measurement.
• Development of a framework for effective developmental evaluation.

Main Results:

• The framework outlines three stages: partner selection, network design, and network management.
• Identifies facilitators and barriers to network growth within each stage.
• Provides methods and tools for measuring progress and supporting informed decisions.

Conclusions:

• Offers a comprehensive framework with rigorous methods for understanding clinical network development.
• Aimed at internal stakeholders for developmental evaluation and decision-making.