There are many developments in the healthcare sector: the focus is shifting more and more to prevention, and new opportunities arise almost constantly through new technologies. All these developments are expected to contribute to the creation of optimal care or rather a maximally healthy population. It is therefore important as a healthcare institution to respond well to these developments. But how do you do that? By seeking cooperation within your network, the flexibility of your organization increases, giving you more opportunities to keep up with these developments. In this insight, we give you an explanation of what network collaboration in healthcare entails and in which developments it can play a major role. Finally, we explain an example of a realized network collaboration within the eTransfer Living Lab program.
Network collaboration is collaboration between different links within the same chain. The idea is that more can be achieved together than individually and that by working together, optimal integral processes are created. Network cooperation also plays a role within healthcare. By cooperating in areas such as direction and policy, not only does it create a more effective process, it also puts the demand of the person in need of care at the center.
Right care, in the right place and at the right time
According to the Ministry of Health, Welfare & Sport, network cooperation in healthcare contributes to the right care, in the right place and at the right time. This involves cooperation between different healthcare providers, both in primary and secondary care. Consider, for example, a collaboration of a specialist doctor with a home care nurse. The person in need of care is central to this: what is the right care for this person in need of care, what is the right place to provide the care and which practitioner in the network is best suited for this?
Pilot project eTransfer
A good example of network cooperation between different healthcare institutions is the eOverdracht Proeftuin in which De Zorgcirkel, Omring, Dijklander Hospital and Noordwest Hospital Group participated. These healthcare institutions jointly started a program to digitally transfer patient data. In this program, a person in need of care provides the required information once with the primary care provider; this is shared with the care agencies needed for the person in need of care. The program also includes organizing placement requests within the network digitally, allowing insight into capacity within the entire network without having to contact them by phone or email. The pilot of the Living Lab eTransfer has been successfully implemented and the possibilities for a follow-up are being investigated.
This Living Lab is part of the InZicht program of the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport to accelerate safe and unambiguous digital data exchange in long-term care.
Prevention: care at the right time
Network collaborations such as the eTransfer Living Lab can also play a major role in prevention. Through the digital transfer of patient information within the network collaboration, the current status of a person in need of care is clear to all care providers involved. For example, by having a home care nurse preventively monitor a chronic patient, possibly with the help of an e-health device that enables remote monitoring, abnormalities can be detected at an early stage, sometimes even before a person in need of care has experienced this abnormality. Early signaling by the nurse and passing it on to the specialist physician prevents a more serious situation. For this to work well, network cooperation is very important.
We have expressed the optimal effect of network collaboration in terms of maturity levels. In our additional insight, in addition to further explaining the above possibilities of network collaboration, we will discuss the maturity levels of network collaboration and the corresponding growth model. Download the insight below.
