The end of life (EoL) represents a critical phase for cancer patients which requires the adoption of appropriate organisational models. During this phase, in fact, patients tend to heavily use health services, demanding the adoption of appropriate coordination mechanisms among all services involved. Despite several research on the topic, there is a paucity of knowledge on the interdependencies among EoL health service providers and how they contribute to the provision of care for cancer patients. This study employed a network perspective to study the complex patterns of patient sharing among health providers involved in EoL care in Italy, using data on EoL health service utilization by 2,266 cancer patients in an LHA. Social network analysis (SNA) was applied to analyse patient sharing networks among health services in the Local Health Authority (LHA), and to study structural properties of emerging networks. Logistic regression-quadratic assignment procedure (LR-QAP) was applied to explore how characteristics of health care providers, their network and travel distance predict the probability of observing patient sharing ties in the LHA. The results demonstrated that health services tend to share patients when they have a different medical specialization or are located in the same hospital. This probability is also related to the difference in term of eigenvector centrality and to the transitivity of their ego network. We discuss the policy implications of our findings.

Giorgio, L., Grilli, R., Mascia, D., Vicentini, M., Guberti, M., Mangone, L., et al. (2024). Patterns and determinants of patient sharing in end-of-life health services: Empirical evidence from the Italian National Health Service. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF HEALTHCARE MANAGEMENT, online first, 1-15 [10.1080/20479700.2024.2392421].

Patterns and determinants of patient sharing in end-of-life health services: Empirical evidence from the Italian National Health Service

Mascia D.
Membro del Collaboration Group
;
Guberti M.
Membro del Collaboration Group
;
Morandin G.
Membro del Collaboration Group
;
2024

Abstract

The end of life (EoL) represents a critical phase for cancer patients which requires the adoption of appropriate organisational models. During this phase, in fact, patients tend to heavily use health services, demanding the adoption of appropriate coordination mechanisms among all services involved. Despite several research on the topic, there is a paucity of knowledge on the interdependencies among EoL health service providers and how they contribute to the provision of care for cancer patients. This study employed a network perspective to study the complex patterns of patient sharing among health providers involved in EoL care in Italy, using data on EoL health service utilization by 2,266 cancer patients in an LHA. Social network analysis (SNA) was applied to analyse patient sharing networks among health services in the Local Health Authority (LHA), and to study structural properties of emerging networks. Logistic regression-quadratic assignment procedure (LR-QAP) was applied to explore how characteristics of health care providers, their network and travel distance predict the probability of observing patient sharing ties in the LHA. The results demonstrated that health services tend to share patients when they have a different medical specialization or are located in the same hospital. This probability is also related to the difference in term of eigenvector centrality and to the transitivity of their ego network. We discuss the policy implications of our findings.
2024
Giorgio, L., Grilli, R., Mascia, D., Vicentini, M., Guberti, M., Mangone, L., et al. (2024). Patterns and determinants of patient sharing in end-of-life health services: Empirical evidence from the Italian National Health Service. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF HEALTHCARE MANAGEMENT, online first, 1-15 [10.1080/20479700.2024.2392421].
Giorgio, L.; Grilli, R.; Mascia, D.; Vicentini, M.; Guberti, M.; Mangone, L.; Morandin, G.; Marino, M.
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11585/1002889
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