About key networks

Key networks are health networks that own many health care organizations. They are also known as Integrated Delivery Networks (IDNs) in the US and Integrated Care Systems (ICSs) in the UK.

It can be very important to understand the HCPs and HCOs that roll up to these large organizations to help with business practices like incentive compensation, compliance, and to target specific accounts. It can also be helpful for Data Stewards so they understand the impact of changing hierarchy data.

Find key networks

Use the following methods identify the top-level HCOs that are considered key networks (or integrated delivery networks (IDNs)) in your Network instance.

Key network field

Use the key_hco_network__v field on the HCO object. The field is set to Yes/True for HCOs that have been identified by OpenData as a key network.

Key network hashtags

Depending on your locale, use the #keyNetwork or #IDN (US only) hashtag to search for the list of key networks. Hashtags also display on record profiles so you can easily identify an HCO that is a key network.

For more information about the field and hashtags, see Key Network/IDN field.

Search within key networks

It's also important to understand all of the entities within a key network. You can search for HCPs and HCOs in all levels of a key network's hierarchy using the @ symbol and the HCO's alias.

Example

To search within the hierarchy of the Mayo Clinic, you can search for @MayoClinic. This automatically displays all of the HCOs and HCPs that are affiliated with the Mayo Clinic health system.

The Key Network label also displays on the affiliated records so you can easily identify the HCO hierarchy the record belongs to.

Key networks and aliases are defined by OpenData by default, but you can add locally managed HCOs as key networks so you can search within their hierarchy.

For more information about searching within key networks, see Key HCO network search.