title: Exploring the success of an integrated primary care partnership: a longitudinal study of collaboration processes.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Forming partnerships is a prominent strategy used to promote integrated service delivery across health and social service systems. Evidence about the collaboration process upon which partnerships evolve has rarely been addressed in an integrated-care setting. This study explores the longitudinal relationship of the collaboration process and the influence on the final perceived success of a partnership in such a setting. The collaboration process through which partnerships evolve is based on a conceptual framework which identifies five themes: shared ambition, interests and mutual gains, relationship dynamics, organisational dynamics and process management.
  
  
  METHODS
  Fifty-nine out of 69 partnerships from a national programme in the Netherlands participated in this survey study. At baseline, 338 steering committee members responded, and they returned 320 questionnaires at follow-up. Multiple-regression-analyses were conducted to explore the relationship between the baseline as well as the change in the collaboration process and the final success of the partnerships.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Mutual gains and process management were the most significant baseline predictors for the final success of the partnership. A positive change in the relationship dynamics had a significant effect on the final success of a partnership.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Insight into the collaboration process of integrated primary care partnerships offers a potentially powerful way of predicting their success. Our findings underscore the importance of monitoring the collaboration process during the development of the partnerships in order to achieve their full collaborative advantage.
authors.affiliation: Jan van Es Institute, Netherlands Expert Centre Integrated Primary Care, Randstad 2145-a, 1314 BG, Almere, The Netherlands. p.valentijn@jvei.nl.|Scientific Centre for Care and Welfare (Tranzo), Tilburg University, Tilburg, The Netherlands. p.valentijn@jvei.nl.
authors.forename: Pim P
authors.initials: PP
authors.lastname: Valentijn
authors.affiliation: Scientific Centre for Care and Welfare (Tranzo), Tilburg University, Tilburg, The Netherlands. vrijhoef_hubertus@nuhs.edu.sg.|Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore. vrijhoef_hubertus@nuhs.edu.sg.
authors.forename: Hubertus J M
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Vrijhoef
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Services Research, School for Public Health and Primary Care, Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands. d.ruwaard@maastrichtuniversity.nl.
authors.forename: Dirk
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ruwaard
authors.affiliation: Institute of Health Policy and Management, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands. debont@bmg.eur.nl.
authors.forename: Antoinette
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: de Bont
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Health & Technology, University of Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands. r.y.arends@utwente.nl.
authors.forename: Rosa Y
authors.initials: RY
authors.lastname: Arends
authors.affiliation: Jan van Es Institute, Netherlands Expert Centre Integrated Primary Care, Randstad 2145-a, 1314 BG, Almere, The Netherlands. m.bruijnzeels@jvei.nl.
authors.forename: Marc A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Bruijnzeels
mesh_terms: D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D003627:Data Interpretation, Statistical; D019033:Delivery of Health Care, Integrated / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006282:Health Personnel / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D017146:Models, Organizational; D009426:Netherlands; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000458:organization & administration*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires