This study focuses on the question of to what extent patient hospital careers take place in a coordinated way. So, nearly 60,000 hospitalizations with a diagnosis within the same diagnosis spectrum were analysed. The hospitalizations took place in a large regional area within Saxony, Germany. The patient catchment areas were hierarchically ordered (rural/urban) so that a representative sample of all hospitals was obtained. We conclude that in general there is a high degree of intrasectoral coordination in the acute inpatient sector. This applies especially for regions that are near a hospital of a higher care level. Observable problems in the process reflect a weak structure of outpatient care, problems related to rural areas, strategic incentives to pass on cost-intensive cases, or existing informal networks.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.