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- Title
Professional and geographical network effects on healthcare information exchange growth: does proximity really matter?
- Authors
Niam Yaraghi; Ye Du, Anna; Sharman, Raj; Gopal, Ram D.; Ramesh, R.; Singh, Ranjit; Singh, Gurdev
- Abstract
Background and objective We postulate that professional proximity due to common patients and geographical proximity among practice locations are significant factors influencing the adoption of health information exchange (HIE) services by healthcare providers. The objective of this study is to investigate the direct and indirect network effects of these drivers on HIE diffusion. Design Multi-dimensional scaling and clustering are first used to create different clusters of physicians based on their professional and geographical proximities. Extending the Bass diffusion model to capture direct and indirect network effects among groups, the growth of HIE among these clusters is modeled and studied. The network effects among the clusters are investigated using adoption data over a 3-year period for an HIE based in Western New York. Measurement HIE adoption parameters--external sources of influence as well as direct and indirect network coefficients--are estimated by the extended version of the Bass diffusion model. Results Direct network effects caused by common patients among physicians are much more influential on HIE adoption as compared with previously investigated social contagion and external factors. Professional proximity due to common patients does influence adoption decisions; geographical proximity is also influential, but its effect is more on rural than urban physicians. Conclusions Flow of patients among different groups of physicians is a powerful factor in HIE adoption. Rather than merely following the market trend, physicians appear to be influenced by other physicians with whom they interact with and have common patients.
- Subjects
MEDICAL informatics; INFORMATION sharing; INFORMATION resources management; ACCESS to information; INFORMATION resources; MEDICAL communication; INFORMATION technology
- Publication
Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, 2014, Vol 21, Issue 4, p671
- ISSN
1067-5027
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1136/amiajnl-2012-001293