Inter-agency Information Sharing in Health and Social Care Services: The Role of Professional Culture

Abstract

This article uses a literature review to examine the ways in which professional culture might shape inter-organizational exchange of personal information in a health and social care context. The aim is to explore a simplified model of possible information-sharing behaviours (‘ideal’, ‘over-open’, ‘over-cautious’ and ‘chaotic’) and to suggest that patterns of information sharing may be influenced by a number of factors. It is proposed that these factors include not only inter-professional differences in the approach taken to information sharing but also the ways in which the professions interrelate.