title: Effect of hospital referral networks on patient readmissions.
abstract: Previous studies have shown that referral networks encompass important mechanisms of coordination and integration among hospitals, which enhance numerous organizational-level benefits, such as productivity, efficiency, and quality of care. The present study advances previous research by demonstrating how hospital referral networks influence patient readmissions. Data include 360,697 hospitalization events within a regional community of hospitals in the Italian National Health Service. Multilevel hierarchical regression analysis tests the impacts of referral networks' structural characteristics on patient hospital readmissions. The results demonstrate that organizational centrality in the overall referral network and ego-network density have opposing effects on the likelihood of readmission events within hospitals; greater centrality is negatively associated with readmissions, whereas greater ego-network density increases the likelihood of readmission events. Our findings support the (re)organization of healthcare systems and provide important indications for policymakers and practitioners.
authors: Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Department of Public Health and Graduate School of Health Economics and Management, Largo F. Vito 1, 00168 Rome, Italy. Electronic address: dmascia@rm.unicatt.it.
authors: Daniele
authors: D
authors: Mascia
authors: Maastricht University, School for Public Health and Primary Care (CAPHRI), Department of Health Services Research, The Netherlands.
authors: Federica
authors: F
authors: Angeli
authors: G. d'Annunzio University, Department of Economic Studies, Italy.
authors: Fausto
authors: F
authors: Di Vincenzo
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003266:Continuity of Patient Care / Q000458:organization & administration; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007373:Interinstitutional Relations; D007558:Italy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010359:Patient Readmission / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010360:Patient Transfer / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011787:Quality of Health Care
keywords: Hierarchical linear modeling; Interorganizational collaboration; Patient readmission; Social network analysis