Factors Influencing Networkability in the Health Care Sector - Derivation and Empirical Validation

In most sectors of the economy, holistic, local production structures based on manual labour have evolved into activities characterised by a high division of labour between service providers combined with specialisation, the standardisation of service components and extensive networking (industrialisation). In the health care sector, the first signs of a similar development are beginning to crystallise. A key concept for industrialisation is the ability to link up with other players on the basis of commonly agreed standards and services in the sector and low setup costs per case in order to jointly provide high-quality health care treatment oriented towards patient benefits. In this paper the main factors leading to an increase in this networkability are identified. The validity of the proposed factors is evaluated by means of an empirical investigation. The results of the investigation serve on the one hand to provide an overview of the areas where action is necessary to increase the networkability of individual players as well as that of the sector as a whole. On the other hand, these results can be used to obtain initial findings as to how health care players can control networkability on a holistic and systematic basis.