Table 2.
Descriptive characteristics of the sample and the dependent and independent variables
| Variables | n (%) | Mean (SD) | Missing n (%) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Homecare agencies | 88 | |||
| Ownership | 0 | |||
| non-profit | 62 (70.5) | |||
| for-profit | 26 (29.5) | |||
| Urbanicity | 0 | |||
| Rural | 39 (44.3) | |||
| Suburban | 32 (36.4) | |||
| Urban | 17 (19.3) | |||
| Language region | 0 | |||
| German | 67 (76.1) | |||
| French | 14 (15.9) | |||
| Italian | 7 (8.0) | |||
| Size | ||||
| Number of full-time equivalents (FTE) | 45.6 (57.5) | 0 | ||
| Total number of clients in 2020 | 557.2 (734.7) | 3 (3.4) | ||
| Hours of care provided in 2020 | 41,404 (42582.3) | 2 (2.3) | ||
| Independent variables measured on agency level | ||||
| Coordination Process | ||||
| Explicit coordination mechanism: | ||||
| Programming | ||||
| Presence of standards / guidelines (index 0–5) | 3.8 (1.2) | 0 | ||
| Case responsible/managers (index 0–3) | 1.9 (0.8) | |||
| Exchange vessels (index 0–3) | 2.5 () | |||
| Electronic data sharing possibilities with physicians (yes) | 22 (25.0) | 0 | ||
| Implicit coordination mechanism: | ||||
| Cognition | ||||
| Possibility for continuous education (index 0–3) | 0.7 (0.9) | |||
| Agency characteristics | ||||
| Obligation to serve all clients (yes) | 58 (65.9) | 0 | ||
| Range of service | ||||
| Palliative Care (yes) | 64 (72.7) | 0 | ||
| Oncology care (yes) | 18 (20.5) | 0 | ||
| Psychiatric care (yes) | 59 (67.0) | 0 | ||
| 24 h care service (yes) | 26 (29.5) | 0 | ||
| Continuous night care (yes) | 28 (31.8) | 0 | ||
| Average hours of care billed per client in 2020 | 83.0 (62.3) | 4 (4.5) | ||
| Workforce | ||||
| Percentage of RNs or higher educational background | 29.7 (13.8) | 9 (10.2) | ||
| External factors | ||||
| Financial regulatory mechanisms | ||||
| Reimbursement regulations of residual financing | 7 (8.0) | |||
| Effective full costs | 22 (27.2) | |||
| Agency-specific and predefined costs | 27 (33.3) | |||
| Standard costs, standard deficits, or maximum limits | 29 (35.8) | |||
| others (e.g., compensation via a global budget) | 3 (3.4) | |||
| Client co-payment | 0 | |||
| No patient co-payment | 18 (20.5) | |||
| Co-payment of a maximum of CHF 7.65 a day | 34 (38.6) | |||
| Up to 20% of the HI contribution and upper limit of CHF 15.35/day | 29 (33.0) | |||
| Direct contribution up to the upper limit of a maximum of CHF 15.35/day | 7 (8.0) | |||
| Employees | 1784 | |||
| Age | 44.6 (12.1) | 58 (3.3) | ||
| Gender | 16 (0.9) | |||
| Female | 1625 (91.9) | |||
| Male | 140 (7.9) | |||
| Non-binary | 3 (0.2) | |||
| Educational background | 13 (0.7) | |||
| RNs with a Master or Bachelor degree or at least a 3-year education with diploma | 1085 (61.3) | |||
| Nursing and care staff with lower education in the nursing field | 686 (38.7) | |||
| Language region | 0 | |||
| German | 1148 (64.3) | |||
| French | 549 (30.8) | |||
| Italian | 87 (4.9) | |||
| Independent variables measured on employee level | ||||
| Coordination Process | ||||
| Explicit coordination mechanism: | ||||
| Communication | ||||
| Communication and information exchange (scale 1–7) | 4.8 (1.3) | 6 (0.3) | ||
| Implicit coordination mechanism: | ||||
| Cognition | ||||
| Knowledge of the health system (scale 1–5) | 3.7 (0.8) | 14 (0.8) | ||
| Role clarity (scale 0–4) | 3.0 (0.7) | 8 (0.4) | ||
| Mutual respect and trust (scale 1–7) | 5.3 (1.1) | 6 (0.3) | ||
| Accountability, predictability, common perspective (scale 1–5) | 3.8 (0.7) | 4 (0.2) | ||
| Agency characteristics | ||||
| Employment percentage (%) | 70.0 (21.3) | 31 (1.7) | ||
| Experience in agency (in years) | 6.5 (6.7) | 89 (5.0) | ||
| Perceived staffing (scale 1–4) | 2.9 (0.7) | 21 (1.2) | ||
| Perceived workload (scale 1–20) | 10.8 (2.7) | 6 (0.3) | ||
| Overtime (single item 0–4) | 0.74 (0.44) | 25 (1.4) | ||
| At least once a week | 1299 (73.8) | |||
| Dependent variable measured on employee level | ||||
| Employee-perceived coordination (scale 0–4) | 2.52 (0.61) | 7 (< 0.01) |
Note. CHF = Swiss francs, FTE = full-time equivalent posts, HI = health insurance, RN = registered nurse, SD = standard deviation