Title: Mapping e-health strategies: thinking outside the traditional healthcare box

Authors: H. Joseph Wen, Joseph Tan

Addresses: Department of Accounting and Management Information Systems, Harrison College of Business, Southeast Missouri State University, Cape Girardeau, MO 63701, USA. ' ISM Department, School of Business, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI 48202, USA

Abstract: E-health has evolved and emerged in many forms; for instance, prescription refills, appointment scheduling, online billing, online medical records, and patient provider communications. Among other marketable e-health strategic applications, the use of e-health information has proliferated and has been presented in the form of content-only health gateways, physician directories, physician-only sites, and online pharmacies. The adoption of the web as an e-health medium has caused both traditional and e-healthcare providers to rethink and experiment with innovative ways of providing healthcare services. The e-providers who can effectively market themselves on the web will have a distinct advantage. At this time, a lot of education appears to be needed in this field in order to ensure that key players in this arena are contributing to the growth and success of e-health. In this paper, we present a general framework for mapping e-health strategies based on e-health business structures and their value proposition. Such e-health systems may be designed to meet the needs of e-stakeholders and for gaining competitive advantages. We believe that by opening up this line of discussion, it will provide future-orientated healthcare executives and entrepreneurs with useful insights into feasible e-health strategic solutions and their commercial potentials.

Keywords: business structure; e-health strategies; e-patients; e-providers; value proposition; e-healthcare providers; electronic healthcare; internet; web-based healthcare.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEH.2005.006474

International Journal of Electronic Healthcare, 2005 Vol.1 No.3, pp.261 - 276

Published online: 13 Mar 2005 *

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