Cooperation Map: Visualizing and Analyzing Patient Transfers and Referrals.

Area of Science:

• Neurosurgery
• Health Services Research
• Medical Informatics

Background:

• Patient transfers (TF) between hospitals and referrals (RF) from outpatient clinics (OC) are integral to healthcare delivery.
• Monitoring patient flow is crucial for efficient healthcare management and clinical decision-making.
• Changes in leadership can potentially impact established clinical workflows and patient referral patterns.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze the impact of a new leadership appointment on neurosurgical patient transfers and referrals.
• To evaluate the utility of a Cooperation Map (CM) as a tool for visualizing and monitoring inpatient TF and outpatient RF.
• To assess trends in patient flow within a university neurosurgery department over a defined period.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective analysis of 2825 neurosurgical cases from 2023-2025.
• Utilization of a Cooperation Map (CM) to visualize inpatient patient transfers (TF) and outpatient referrals (RF).
• Comparison of patient flow data before and after the appointment of a new chief physician.

Main Results:

• Both inpatient transfers (TF) and outpatient referrals (RF) initially declined following the leadership change.
• A partial recovery in patient transfer and referral volumes was observed after the initial decline.
• The Cooperation Map successfully visualized changes in patient flow patterns.

Conclusions:

• The Cooperation Map is a valuable visual analytics tool for monitoring patient flows in neurosurgery.
• Leadership changes can influence patient transfer and referral dynamics within a clinical department.
• Visualizing patient pathways supports clinical decision-making and operational adjustments.