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Findings from an Organizational Network Analysis to Support Local Public Health Management

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Abstract

We assessed the feasibility of using organizational network analysis in a local public health organization. The research setting was an urban/suburban county health department with 156 employees. The goal of the research was to study communication and information flow in the department and to assess the technique for public health management. Network data were derived from survey questionnaires. Computational analysis was performed with the Organizational Risk Analyzer. Analysis revealed centralized communication, limited interdependencies, potential knowledge loss through retirement, and possible informational silos. The findings suggested opportunities for more cross program coordination but also suggested the presences of potentially efficient communication paths and potentially beneficial social connectedness. Managers found the findings useful to support decision making. Public health organizations must be effective in an increasingly complex environment. Network analysis can help build public health capacity for complex system management.

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Acknowledgments

The study was funded by National Library of Medicine N01-LM-1-3521 and National Institute of Nursing Research P20 NR 007799. This work was supported in part by CASOS—the Center for Computational Analysis of Social and Organizational Systems at Carnegie Mellon University. Development of the ORA tool used for analysis was supported by Office of Naval Research N00014-06-0104. The views and conclusions contained in this document are those of the authors and should not be interpreted as representing the official policies, either expressed or implied of the Office of Naval Research or the US government.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Columbia University Department of Biomedical Informatics, New York, NY, USA

    Jacqueline Merrill, Maxine L. Rockoff & Suzanne Bakken

  2. Dutchess County Department of Health, Poughkeepsie, NY, USA

    Michael Caldwell

  3. Columbia University School of Nursing, New York, NY, USA

    Kristine Gebbie & Suzanne Bakken

  4. Institute for Software Research International, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburg, PA, USA

    Kathleen M. Carley

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  1. Jacqueline Merrill
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  2. Michael Caldwell
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  3. Maxine L. Rockoff
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  4. Kristine Gebbie
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  5. Kathleen M. Carley
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  6. Suzanne Bakken
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Correspondence to Jacqueline Merrill.

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Merrill, J., Caldwell, M., Rockoff, M.L. et al. Findings from an Organizational Network Analysis to Support Local Public Health Management. J Urban Health 85, 572–584 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11524-008-9277-8

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