Facilitating inter-professional integration in palliative care: A service ecosystem perspective

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Management
• Service Science
• Palliative Care Research

Background:

• Healthcare systems face challenges in inter-professional collaboration and integration.
• Policy often overlooks the complexities of healthcare service systems.
• A service ecosystem perspective offers a new lens for studying service systems.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine palliative care provision through a service ecosystem lens.
• To identify insights and opportunities for improving palliative care services.
• To explore the dynamics of collaboration and integration in palliative care.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a service ecosystem perspective.
• Collected data through pathographies (n=31) and provider interviews (n=21) in a UK geographical area.
• Conducted research between 2017 and 2018.

Main Results:

• Key themes impacting palliative care included collaboration, coordination, resource integration, and communicating value.
• Providers expressed shared intentionality for better integration and collaboration.
• A desire exists for hospice organizations to lead and facilitate integration.

Conclusions:

• New institutional arrangements can foster value co-creation in palliative care.
• Focusing on service design, rather than organizational design, is crucial in complex healthcare systems.
• Reconfiguring resources and developing meso-level arrangements can enhance micro-macro level interactions for improved value co-creation.