Inter-organizational collaboration between healthcare providers

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Management
• Health Services Research
• Organizational Studies

Background:

• Healthcare organizations increasingly utilize inter-organizational collaboration (IOC) in OECD countries.
• A lack of systematic insight exists regarding IOC relations across diverse healthcare sectors.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore how IOC characteristics, motives, and health policy influence collaborations across different healthcare sectors.
• To identify potential effects considered by healthcare executives before establishing IOCs.

Main Methods:

• An explorative study utilizing a survey.
• Conducted among a representative panel of Dutch healthcare executives from medium-to-large organizations.
• Achieved a 48% participation rate (n=344).

Main Results:

• Sector-specific policy changes and institutional developments shape the scope and type of IOC.
• Hospitals typically engage in smaller, horizontal collaborations.
• Nursing homes, disability care, and mental care organizations exhibit larger, more complex mixed and non-horizontal collaborations.

Conclusions:

• Healthcare executives conduct self-assessments, including potential effects, prior to establishing IOCs.
• The study provides an overview of policy developments, collaboration types, and intended outcomes.
• Offers a foundation for assessing the effectiveness of healthcare collaborations.