Identifying Key Players in the Care Process of Patients with Diabetes Using Social Network Analysis and...

Determining networks of healthcare providers quantitatively can identify impactful care processes that improve health outcomes for a high-risk populations such as elderly people with multiple chronic conditions. By applying social network analysis to health claim data of a large university in the Midwest, we measured healthcare provider networks of patients with diabetes for two consecutive years. Networks were built based on the assumption that having common patients may indicate potential working relationships between providers. Measures of the social network analysis including degree and betweenness centrality were utilized to identify healthcare providers with an important role in the care process. Both degree and betweenness centrality measures identified a supply center and three laboratories as the central providers of the network for both years. This study can positively impact informed decision-making of policymakers and insurance companies to better design their insurance coverage plans based on the collaboration patterns of the healthcare providers.