Social capital and partnership opportunities: Management implication in integrated healthcare networks

Social capital as a multidimensional construct measurable from a spirit of trust, cooperation, and commitment could be considered integral to understanding how health care organizations may enhance their survival and growth potential in networks. The organization and dynamics of Taiwan's primary community care network (PCCN) could serve as a good example to illustrate the role of social capital in establishing partnership opportunities. This chapter employs integrated health networks as a framework to identify the importance of social capital and to explicate managerial issues related to health care network management. Analytical issues pertaining to social capital were raised and relevant arguments were reviewed. Finally, using Taiwan's primary community care network (PCCN) as a thinking model, we propose several indicators to study the nature of social capital from three domains: structural, relational, and cognitive. The principles of social capital applicable to network management in the health care sector were discussed.