Influences on Integration
According to (), the drivers of integration include the motivational factors both within and outside the organization that influence the process and activities of integration. The pressure that affects the activities of the Ontario Telemedicine Network emanates from both the external and internal factors.
Some of the external drivers of integration include political factors such as the government’s policies to provide healthcare. According to O’Gorman, Hogenbirk & Warry (2016), the provincial government of Ontario has shown a significant commitment to building safer and healthier communities in the entire province. The other significant external drivers are economic factors such as scarcity of healthcare resources. According to Marchildon & Hutchison (2016), there have been limited resources, thus promoting the government to perform a precarious balancing act to attain its healthcare goals and objectives. Furthermore, there are social factors such as population demographics shifts, which affect the healthcare resources required, the cost of care provided, and demanding new directions in the delivery of medical services. The other influential driver includes technological advances, which enable the link between physicians and other medical practitioners with clients or patients (Edwards et al., 2007). Internal drivers include team networks and healthcare programs.
Concerning the size of integration, Ontario Telemedicine Network entails both small and large units, many and few units, both in the local and entire province. As a network, the integration attracts a wide range of service providers, since “looser structures attract a broader range of organizations by letting these parties maintain more control over their own domains” (Edwards et al., 2007, p. 11-12). The network brings together a wide range of stakeholders who provide different services such as those that address health, social services, education, housing, childcare, recreation, labor, and correctional facilities. While some are local in nature, others provide services to the whole province.