Integrated service networks: the Quebec case

Abstract

In the current context of health-care reform, integrated service networks are presented as main solutions to enhance efficiency. During the past few years, there has been an abundance of literature focusing on integration and the underlying implementation issues. However, the concept of integrated service networks remains fluid, and there are few typologies on health-care inter-organizational relations. The Quebec health-care system offers fertile ground for furthering our understanding of this concept because of its public system of funding, its integration of health and social missions, and the present reform's state of development. On the basis of a review of the literature and empirical studies, this article intends to clarify the concept of integrated service networks. A typology of inter-organizational relations and the main parameters for organizing integrated service networks are presented. The article also discusses the effectiveness of integration models.