Beyond Network Effectiveness: The Case for Network Efficiency and Accuracy (WP-22-17)
Zachary Gibson, Mariana Escallon-Barrios, Joshua-Paul Miles, Catherine Annis, Julia Carboni, Karen Smilowitz, Gilly Cantor, Nicholas Armstrong, and Michelle Shumate
Multi-service coordinated care networks are thought to improve access to care and accountability for human service organizations by centralizing knowledge management and referring clients to appropriate providers. The researchers investigate these referral networks’ performance by examining their accuracy at routing clients to the correct provider, their efficiency in terms of time to service, and their effectiveness measured as whether the service request was filled. Using 30 days of service episode data from early 2020 (N = 1,575), they compare the 11 networks’ performance. Network accuracy positively correlated with network effectiveness and negatively with network efficiency, but efficiency and effectiveness were not correlated. Moreover, network performance significantly varied across service types. The authors end with recommendations for network managers and policy implications.