An Analysis of Patient-sharing Provider Network in Australian Healthcare Industry Using Administrative Claim Data

Abstract

Effective and efficient healthcare services require the comprehensive collaboration of healthcare professionals and complex inter-reliant activities. For the patient-sharing provider network, effective collaboration can ensure the best possible health outcome and value. Therefore, understanding the dynamics of the patient-sharing provider network is essential to measure the efficiency of healthcare delivery services. This research aims to improve health outcomes by analysing the attributes of a patient-sharing provider collaboration network. This research also explores the impact of different characteristics of patient-sharing provider network (PSN) on admission rate, re-admission rate, length of stay (LOS), hospitalisation cost, etc. In this study, I use administrative claim data to construct and develop a PSN, and social network analysis (SNA) is used to analyse PSN. A patient-sharing provider network makes the health sector more efficient and helps make quick and proper decisions in real-time. Different healthcare organisations in Australia can use a patient-sharing provider network to make better strategic and operational directives. Therefore, this research provides a comprehensive analysis of the patient-sharing provider network. Thus, this research provides valuable insights and a networked approach to analysing healthcare collaboration in the Australian health context. The findings and insights from this research can potentially help transform the way the Australian health industry manages, analyses, and leverages data. The result is beneficial for academics, patients, health care providers, government, and health industry stakeholders to formulate better policies, eventually improving the quality of care while reducing cost.