Clique Formation in a Regional Health Planning Agency

Findings on the pattern of social relations among consumers and providers in a health planning agency in the United States suggest that interdependency may be the hallmark of health planning decision-making.

Abstract

This paper presents findings on the pattern of social relations among consumers and providers in a health planning agency in the United States. The data consisted of a survey of policy-making members of the planning body that yielded background information about respondents, their views on a range of social and health policy issues, and sociometric data. Cliques within the organization appeared to be influenced by the organizational “careers” of individuals. These data suggest that policy cohesion may be a more important factor for clique formation than social ties. The significance of the findings is that interdependency may be the hallmark of health planning decision-making. Those who “act” on a particular issue may well constitute a decision network at that point in time.