Design and implementation of a data collection system for social network analysis

Patient safety and quality initiatives emphasize the importance of communication and collaboration among health care providers across the continuum of care. This has led to increased interest in methods such as social network analysis (SNA) that support investigations of healthcare provider communication networks. However, designing and implementing a SNA data collection system for the healthcare environment can be challenging for both new and experienced researchers. In this paper, we report on the design of a novel web-based SNA data collection system and its implementation in the inpatient hospital environment.