ArticleBMC family practice2015
The challenges of boundary spanners in supporting inter-organizational collaboration in primary care--a qualitative study of general practitioners in a new role.
Article in BMC family practice, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Working between systems: an umbrella review of care navigator roles and responsibilities.Frontiers in health services · 2025Pooled it
- Article
- Swaying Information About Care: Information-Sharing Challenges in Transitional Care of Older Adults in Japan.Journal of cross-cultural gerontology · 2026Article
- 'There's a will, but not a way': Norwegian GPs' experiences of collaboration with child welfare services - a grounded theory study.BMC primary care · 2024Article
- Adopting standardized cancer patient pathways as a policy at different organizational levels in the Swedish Health System.Health research policy and systems · 2023Article
- Introducing quality clusters in general practice - a qualitative study of the experiences of cluster coordinators.BMC primary care · 2022Article
- Danish feasibility study of a new innovation for treating alcohol disorders in primary care: the 15-method.BMC primary care · 2022Article
- Comparison of Patients' Perceived Quality of Primary Care Between Urban and Rural Community Health Centers in Guangdong, China.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2020Article
- Why do general practitioners not refer patients to behaviour-change programmes after preventive health checks? A mixed-method study.BMC family practice · 2019Article
- Inter-Sectoral Collaboration in Municipal Health Centres: A Multi-Site Qualitative Study of Supporting Organizational Elements and Individual Drivers.International journal of integrated care · 2019Article
- Integrated Palliative Care for Nursing Home Residents: Exploring the Challenges in the Collaboration between Nursing Homes, Home Care and Hospitals.International journal of integrated care · 2019Article
- Boundary-spanning actors in complex adaptive governance systems: The case of multisectoral nutrition.The International journal of health planning and management · 2018Article
- Role enactment of facilitation in primary care - a qualitative study.BMC health services research · 2017Article
- The role of boundary spanners in delivering collaborative care: a process evaluation.BMC family practice · 2016Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe visions of more integrated care have created new roles and accountabilities for organizations and professionals. Thus, professionals are increasingly expected to engage in boundary spanning activities in order to facilitate inter-organizational and inter-sectoral collaboration. However, this task can be difficult for individual actors and it is important to investigate the work and challenges of boundary spanners in various settings. This study explores the challenges related to a new boundary spanning role for general practitioners employed to facilitate collaboration between the municipalities and general practice.
methodsThe study is based on semi-structured interviews with ten general practitioners acting as municipal practice consultants in the Capital Region of Denmark. The transcribed interviews were analyzed in several steps organizing the material into a set of coherent and distinct categories covering the different types of challenges experienced by the informants.
resultsThe main challenges of the general practitioners acting as boundary spanners were: 1) defining and negotiating the role in terms of tasks and competencies; 2) representing and mobilizing colleagues in general practice; 3) navigating in an unfamiliar organizational context.
conclusionsThe results support previous studies in emphasizing the difficult and multifaceted character of the boundary spanning role. While some of these challenges are not easily dealt with due to their structural causes, organizations employing boundary spanners should take note of these challenges and support their boundary spanners with matching resources and competencies.
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