Social network analysis as an analytic tool for interaction patterns in primary care practices.

Purpose: Social network analysis (SNA) provides a way of quantitatively analyzing relationships among people or other information-processing agents. Using 2 practices as illustrations, we describe how SNA can be used to characterize and compare communication patterns in primary care practices.

Methods: Based on data from ethnographic field notes, we constructed matrices identifying how practice members interact when practice-level decisions are made. SNA software (UCINet and KrackPlot) calculates quantitative measures of network structure including density, centralization, hierarchy and clustering coefficient. The software also generates a visual representation of networks through network diagrams.

Results: The 2 examples show clear distinctions between practices for all the SNA measures. Potential uses of these measures for analysis of primary care practices are described.

Conclusions: SNA can be useful for quantitative analysis of interaction patterns that can distinguish differences among primary care practices.