SynthesisBMJ quality & safety2012
Health professional networks as a vector for improving healthcare quality and safety: a systematic review.
Synthesis in BMJ quality & safety, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 122 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
122 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 304 citations in OpenAlex.
- Mediators of change in healthcare organisations subject to external assessment: a systematic review with narrative synthesis.BMJ open · 2020Pooled it
- Using social network analysis to examine alcohol use among adults: A systematic review.PloS one · 2019Pooled it
- Applications of network analysis to routinely collected health care data: a systematic review.Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association : JAMIA · 2018Pooled it
- The role of hospitals in bridging the care continuum: a systematic review of coordination of care and follow-up for adults with chronic conditions.BMC health services research · 2017Pooled it
- The effectiveness of clinical networks in improving quality of care and patient outcomes: a systematic review of quantitative and qualitative studies.BMC health services research · 2016Pooled it
- Bridges, brokers and boundary spanners in collaborative networks: a systematic review.BMC health services research · 2013Pooled it
- Evaluating the structural reform of outpatient psychotherapy in Germany (ES-RiP trial) - a qualitative study of provider perspectives.BMC health services research · 2021Trial
- Lifestyle coaches as a central professional in the health care network? Dynamic changes over time using a network analysis.BMC health services research · 2021Trial
- Patient-Transition Networks, Multiservice Trajectories, and Specialty Activity in a University Dental Clinic: A Retrospective Ecological Study.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- PROTOCOL: How Do Primary Care Providers Seek Advice Regarding Paediatric Care? Protocol for a Mixed Methods Systematic Review.Campbell systematic reviews · 2026Review
- Understanding Collaborative CT and MRI Utilization Through Network Analysis: Retrospective Study Using Administrative Claims Data.JMIR formative research · 2026Observational
- Identifying informal leaders among medical residents as a basis for educational interventions.BMC medical education · 2026Article
- When clinicians group together: a scoping review of clustering in patient-sharing networks.BMC health services research · 2026Article
- How do clinical networks operationalize safety and quality stewardship? A qualitative study of Australian clinical networks.Health research policy and systems · 2025Article
- Clinicians' experience of the research ready grant program: just-in-time learning to facilitate regional research capacity.BMC health services research · 2025Article
- Understanding the initiation, formation, functioning, and performing of networks to change practices - Realist evaluation of a programme to improve newborn care in Kenya.SSM - health systems · 2025Article
- Monitoring and evaluating an implementation strategy aimed at improving interprofessional collaboration in community-based fall prevention: a mixed-methods study.Implementation science communications · 2025Article
- Barriers, facilitators, and opportunities for hospital antimicrobial stewardship in low and lower middle - income countries in the Eastern Mediterranean region: results from a mixed methods study.Antimicrobial resistance and infection control · 2025Article
- The determinants of evidence use by Australian clinical networks as agents and stewards of safety and quality: a conceptual framework.Health research policy and systems · 2025Article
- Evaluating the Nourish Network: a multi-sector collective initiative to progress healthy food retail in Australia.Public health nutrition · 2025Article
62 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundWhile there is a considerable corpus of theoretical and empirical literature on networks within and outside of the health sector, multiple research questions are yet to be answered.
objectiveTo conduct a systematic review of studies of professionals' network structures, identifying factors associated with network effectiveness and sustainability, particularly in relation to quality of care and patient safety.
methodsThe authors searched MEDLINE, CINAHL, EMBASE, Web of Science and Business Source Premier from January 1995 to December 2009.
resultsA majority of the 26 unique studies identified used social network analysis to examine structural relationships in networks: structural relationships within and between networks, health professionals and their social context, health collaboratives and partnerships, and knowledge sharing networks. Key aspects of networks explored were administrative and clinical exchanges, network performance, integration, stability and influences on the quality of healthcare. More recent studies show that cohesive and collaborative health professional networks can facilitate the coordination of care and contribute to improving quality and safety of care. Structural network vulnerabilities include cliques, professional and gender homophily, and over-reliance on central agencies or individuals.
conclusionsEffective professional networks employ natural structural network features (eg, bridges, brokers, density, centrality, degrees of separation, social capital, trust) in producing collaboratively oriented healthcare. This requires efficient transmission of information and social and professional interaction within and across networks. For those using networks to improve care, recurring success factors are understanding your network's characteristics, attending to its functioning and investing time in facilitating its improvement. Despite this, there is no guarantee that time spent on networks will necessarily improve patient care.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.