Consolidating and Delivering Comprehensive Library Services Following a Health Care System Merger or Acquisition: The e-Delphi Research Experience

Objectives: While there are well-researched standards for healthcare executives to follow when healthcare system mergers occur, little empirical research is available for librarians to use in these situations. As a result, librarians are often left to develop their own methods of providing access and services in the newly merged system. In the Fall of 2020, the research team began to conceptualize an e-Delphi study intended to achieve expert consensus from library professionals in the development of research-based recommendations for delivering library services through one comprehensive, geographically distributed system following a merger or acquisition.

Methods: In 2021, the research team developed an e-Delphi research study protocol after exploring the literature and consulting experts on the e-Delphi research method and hospital librarianship. The protocol was presented at professional conferences later in 2021, and Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval with “Exempt” status was granted in January 2022. Shortly thereafter, expert panelists for the study were recruited through email campaigns to library professionals from each of the seven NNLM regions. In Spring 2022, the research team reviewed the qualifications of the applicants and invited those that qualified to be a part of the expert panel. The team also created a validated qualitative questionnaire to begin the e-Delphi process. In April 2022, the Round 1 questionnaire was sent to expert panelists who were asked to identify key tasks to be addressed during a healthcare merger or acquisition. Thematic analysis was performed over Summer 2022, and the process served as the foundation for the quantitative Rounds 2, 3, and 4 questionnaires, which were completed by the panelists in Fall and Winter 2022. Data extraction and analysis was completed over the Winter of 2022 through 2023.

Results: The research team expects to publish the results in 2023. This paper presentation will provide a deep dive into the researchers’ experience with conducting an e-Delphi study involving
an expert panel of librarians from around the country.

Conclusions: This conference paper presentation will be a transparent and in-depth exploration into the research study’s methodology. It will also serve as an opportunity for medical and special librarians to gain a greater understanding about what it takes to successfully carry out an e-Delphi research study.