IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v21y2024i4p425-d1367630.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Relational Coordination at the Primary–Secondary Care Interface: Insights from a Cross-Sectional Survey in the South Tyrolean Healthcare System

Author

Listed:
  • Christian J. Wiedermann

    (Institute of General Practice and Public Health, Claudiana—College of Health Professions, 39100 Bolzano, Italy
    Department of Public Health, Medical Decision Making and Health Technology Assessment, University of Health Sciences, Medical Informatics and Technology, 6060 Hall in Tirol, Austria)

  • Verena Barbieri

    (Institute of General Practice and Public Health, Claudiana—College of Health Professions, 39100 Bolzano, Italy)

  • Adolf Engl

    (Institute of General Practice and Public Health, Claudiana—College of Health Professions, 39100 Bolzano, Italy)

  • Giuliano Piccoliori

    (Institute of General Practice and Public Health, Claudiana—College of Health Professions, 39100 Bolzano, Italy)

Abstract

Understanding the dynamics of teamwork and communication among healthcare professionals is crucial in the face of evolving healthcare challenges. This study assessed relational coordination among healthcare professionals in the South Tyrolean healthcare system in Italy, focusing on communication and teamwork dynamics in a cross-sectional survey. Using the validated Relational Coordination Survey (RCS) instrument and 525 completed online responses, the questionnaire aimed to understand the implications of different levels of relational coordination ratings by general practitioners, hospital physicians, nurses, and administrative personnel (response rate 26%). The demographics of the participants revealed a predominance of female professionals (64%), with an average age of 50 and 18 years of service. The resulting RCS scores varied significantly across professional groups, with nurses reporting the highest within-group scores, indicating moderate coordination, and administrators reporting the lowest scores, reflecting areas of weak coordination. Between-group relational coordination was generally perceived as weak across professional groups, with the least weakness observed between general practitioners and nurses. German or Italian language and health district affiliation emerged as significant factors influencing relational coordination ratings, highlighting the need for differentiated understanding and strategies in multilingual and diverse regional settings. Assessments of interdisciplinary feedback and referral practices highlight the variation in teamwork and communication weaknesses and underscore the need for targeted interventions to improve relational coordination. This study provides insights into the complexity of relational dynamics in health care settings. This suggests that improving relational coordination through tailored strategies could significantly improve team effectiveness, quality of patient care, and overall system efficiency.

Suggested Citation

  • Christian J. Wiedermann & Verena Barbieri & Adolf Engl & Giuliano Piccoliori, 2024. "Relational Coordination at the Primary–Secondary Care Interface: Insights from a Cross-Sectional Survey in the South Tyrolean Healthcare System," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 21(4), pages 1-16, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:21:y:2024:i:4:p:425-:d:1367630
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/21/4/425/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/21/4/425/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jody Hoffer Gittell, 2002. "Coordinating Mechanisms in Care Provider Groups: Relational Coordination as a Mediator and Input Uncertainty as a Moderator of Performance Effects," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 48(11), pages 1408-1426, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Joon Mahn Lee & Rahul Kapoor, 2017. "Complementarities and Coordination: Implications for Governance Mode and Performance of Multiproduct Firms," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 28(5), pages 931-946, October.
    2. Gopesh Anand & John Gray & Enno Siemsen, 2012. "Decay, Shock, and Renewal: Operational Routines and Process Entropy in the Pharmaceutical Industry," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 23(6), pages 1700-1716, December.
    3. Stephen Frenkel & Karin Sanders & Tim Bednall, 2013. "Employee perceptions of management relations as influences on job satisfaction and quit intentions," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 30(1), pages 7-29, March.
    4. Jie Mein Goh & Guodong (Gordon) Gao & Ritu Agarwal, 2011. "Evolving Work Routines: Adaptive Routinization of Information Technology in Healthcare," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 22(3), pages 565-585, September.
    5. Choi, Young Rok & Phan, Phillip H. & Choi, Jaepil, 2020. "Formal governance, interfirm coordination, and performance in partnerships: An empirical investigation of a mediation model," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 38(3), pages 413-424.
    6. Randall D. Cebul & James B. Rebitzer & Lowell J. Taylor & Mark E. Votruba, 2008. "Organizational Fragmentation and Care Quality in the U.S. Healthcare System," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 22(4), pages 93-113, Fall.
    7. Margaret A. Abernethy & Chung-Yu Hung & Laurence van Lent, 2020. "Expertise and Discretionary Bonus Decisions," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 66(1), pages 415-432, January.
    8. Steven Blader & Claudine Gartenberg & Rebecca Henderson & Andrea Prat, 2015. "The Real Effects of Relational Contracts," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 105(5), pages 452-456, May.
    9. Sara Parker‐Lue & Marvin Lieberman, 2020. "The impact of diversification on task performance: Evidence from kidney transplant centers," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(7), pages 1169-1190, July.
    10. Matt Beane & Wanda J. Orlikowski, 2015. "What Difference Does a Robot Make? The Material Enactment of Distributed Coordination," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 26(6), pages 1553-1573, December.
    11. William D. Barta & Deborah Shelton & Cheryl Cepelak & Colleen Gallagher, 2016. "Promoting a Sustainable Academic–Correctional Health Partnership: Lessons for Systemic Action Research," Systemic Practice and Action Research, Springer, vol. 29(1), pages 27-50, February.
    12. Katarzyna Sienkiewicz-Małyjurek & Tomasz Owczarek, 2020. "Complementarity of Communication and Coordination in Ensuring Effectiveness of Emergency Management Networks," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(1), pages 1-20, December.
    13. Guay, Wayne R. & Kepler, John D. & Tsui, David, 2019. "The role of executive cash bonuses in providing individual and team incentives," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 133(2), pages 441-471.
    14. Samer Faraj & Yan Xiao, 2006. "Coordination in Fast-Response Organizations," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 52(8), pages 1155-1169, August.
    15. Raymond Lei Fan & Ming Zhao & David Xiaosong Peng, 2021. "Differentiating Interhospital Transfer Types: Varied Impacts and Diverging Coordination Strategies," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 30(10), pages 3657-3678, October.
    16. Leslie A. Perlow & Jody Hoffer Gittell & Nancy Katz, 2004. "Contextualizing Patterns of Work Group Interaction: Toward a Nested Theory of Structuration," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 15(5), pages 520-536, October.
    17. Ray Reagans & Ella Miron-Spektor & Linda Argote, 2016. "Knowledge Utilization, Coordination, and Team Performance," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 27(5), pages 1108-1124, October.
    18. Maoliang Ye & Jie Zheng & Plamen Nikolov & Sam Asher, 2020. "One Step at a Time: Does Gradualism Build Coordination?," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 66(1), pages 113-129, January.
    19. Chowdhury, Sanjib & Miles, Grant, 2006. "Customer-induced uncertainty in predicting organizational design: Empirical evidence challenging the service versus manufacturing dichotomy," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 59(1), pages 121-129, January.
    20. Kerrissey, Michaela & Novikov, Zhanna & Tietschert, Maike & Phillips, Russell & Singer, Sara J., 2023. "The ambiguity of “we”: Perceptions of teaming in dynamic environments and their implications," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 320(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:21:y:2024:i:4:p:425-:d:1367630. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.