Leadership in Integrated Care Networks: A Literature Review and Opportunities for Future Research

	Leadership Media (58 studies)	Leadership Practices (14 studies)	Leadership Activities (23 studies)
Policy level (30 studies)	Public governance [6, 9, 41, 42, 43, 44] Legislation/regulation [7, 44, 45, 46, 47] Funding [11, 14, 41, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53] Performance control [48, 54, 55] Social environment [56, 57]	Continuous learning [58]	Exertion of influence by governments and health departments [59, 60, 61] Using dialogue vs. the shadow of hierarchy [62]
Network level (50 studies)	Network governance [11, 45, 49, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69] Network trust [10, 12, 41, 48, 70, 71, 72, 73] Network structures [63, 74, 75, 76] Network geography [50, 67, 77]	Creating connectivity/consensus [78] Co-creation [79] Planning [80] Managing performance [81, 82] Continuous learning [83, 84] Sharing information [85] Pooling resources/expertise [13, 86, 87]	Committed/credible leaders [88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93] Nurturing linkages [41, 51, 94, 95, 96, 97] Aligning goals and creating shared understandings [95, 98]
Organisation level (15 studies)	Professional traditions/work practices [46, 48, 50, 53, 99, 100] Organisational priorities and resources [43, 45]	Multilateral boundary spanning [101] Hospital ownership [102]	Leaders’ motivation [8, 44, 103, 104] Leaders’ tenure [66]

Opportunities for future research on leadership in integrated care networks.

Avenues for future research on leadership in integrated care networks
Leadership mechanisms	1.	The field focuses on important leadership media but is rather silent on how actors implement and change these media. Future research could explore how actors proceed to create and re-create leadership media enabling and/or constraining the emergence and development of integrated care networks.
Levels of analysis	2.	The field tends to focus on the network level of analysis. Future research could examine in more depth how leadership happens at the neighbouring policy and organisation levels of analysis and how it affects and is affected by the network level.
Cross-cutting research themes	3.	Future research could explore how actors cope with inherent tensions, assuming that persistent contradictions between opposite elements are both media and consequences of leadership in integrated care networks.
	4.	Starting from a focus on integrated care, organisation and social network theory, the field could expand its theoretical base, including recent advances in leadership theory.
	5.	The majority of work focuses on outcomes at the network level. Future research could explore how leadership is related not only to the network itself, but also to patients’ experiences of care, population health outcomes, per capita spending and caregivers’ satisfaction, and how these outcomes enable and constrain subsequent leadership practice.