Table 3 Summary of theoretical or conceptual frameworks in included reviews

1. Glegg et al. (2019)

(1) theory drawn from the fields of sociology and psychology:

Diffusion of innovation (n=7), social contagion (n=4), and social influence (n=3) were most commonly applied.

(2) SNA-specific theory (n=6): weak ties, structural holes, cohesion, or tie homophily

(3) SNA paradigm without reference to a specific theory (n=7)

2. DuGoff et al. (2018)

(1) networks reflect aspects of collaboration, continuity, and care coordination

(2) Mark Granovetter’s strength of weak ties

(3) other studies examined how networks influence the adoption of medical technology into clinical practice (diffusion of innovation).

(4) patient-sharing relationships serve as a vector for the spread of infectious diseases.

3. Brunson et al. (2018)

care coordination (n=16), collaboration and competition (n=10), collaborative practice (n=11), decision support (n=6), organizational effectiveness (n=11), social capital and social influence(n=7), health surveillance (n=5), inappropriate access (n=4)

4. Sabot et al. (2017)

(1) diffusion of innovations

(2) knowledge translation and transfer.

5. Poghosyan et al. (2016)

(1) professional networks: advice and consultation regarding patient care, exchange of information and knowledge, adaptation of prescriptions and treatments, patient sharing or referral, and research and professional development.

(2) personal networks: mainly characterized by interactions regarding friendship and emotional support (e.g. creating leisure ties, interacting socially).

6. Mitchell et al. (2016)

health professionals and social context, social support, information exchange, social influence, service provision/organisation

7. Bae et al. (2015)

(1) identification and interpretation of clusters: validity of weak ties/structural holes theories (n = 10) and study network member embeddedness (n=2);

(2) social influence effects: theories of information exchange (n = 21) and resource exchange (n = 1) and exploring the notion of trust between network members (n = 2);

(3) centrality metrics interpretation: theories of social capital (n = 2), social support (n = 3), and studying prestige (n = 2);

(4) network formation principles (n = 5): studying in-network reciprocity, proximity, transitivity, homophily, and small-worldness theories.

8. Benton et al. (2015)

Thematic analysis: network architecture, roles that individuals played, communication structures, power relationships, opinion leaders, differing advice-seeking patterns

9. Tasselli et al. (2014)

homophily theory; knowledge transfer, diffusion of innovation in organizations, and organizational performance; interpersonal networks in organizations as structures of constraint and opportunity negotiated and reinforced through professionals’ interactions

10. Cunningham et al. (2012)

(1) structural relationships within and between organisations (n=6);

(2) health professionals and social context (n=13, including six on work climate);

(3) structure of quality collaboratives and healthcare partnerships(n=4);

(3) structure in knowledge sharing networks(n=4)

11. Chambers et al. (2012)

social networks in relation to service provision and organisation (n=19), the role of social networks in the context of behaviour change (n=22 studies, including diffusion of innovations, opinion leaders and other aspects of social influence), decision-making(n=1), interpersonal relations(n=1), information sharing behaviour (n=1), social support(n=3).

12. Dunn et al. (2011)

professional networks: team communication (n=2); structure of quality collaboratives and healthcare partnerships (n=1)

13. Braithwaite et al. (2010)

new public management theory; culture theory; change, particularly structural change; organizational change theory; social network theory; strategic leadership process theory; organizational culture and sub-culture theory; nursing socialization theory; structuration theory; social identity theory; learning theory within complex adaptive systems; decision theory in real world settings; acquisition theory; boundary roles and boundary- spanning theory; social influence theory;