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The digital transformation of the healthcare industry: exploring the rise of emerging platform ecosystems and their influence on the role of patients

Author

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  • Sebastian Hermes

    (Technical University of Munich)

  • Tobias Riasanow

    (Technical University of Munich)

  • Eric K. Clemons

    (University of Pennsylvania)

  • Markus Böhm

    (Technical University of Munich)

  • Helmut Krcmar

    (Technical University of Munich)

Abstract

While traditional organizations create value within the boundaries of their firm or supply chain, digital platforms leverage and orchestrate a platform-mediated ecosystem to create and co-create value with a much wider array of partners and actors. Although the change to two-sided markets and their generalization to platform ecosystems have been adopted among various industries, both academic research and industry adoption have lagged behind in the healthcare industry. To the best of our knowledge current Information Systems research has not yet incorporated an interorganizational perspective of the digital transformation of healthcare. This neglects a wide range of emerging changes, including changing segmentation of industry market participants, changing patient segments, changing patient roles as decision makers, and their interaction in patient care. This study therefore investigates the digital transformation of the healthcare industry by analyzing 1830 healthcare organizations found on Crunchbase. We derived a generic value ecosystem of the digital healthcare industry and validated our findings with industry experts from the traditional and the start-up healthcare domains. The results indicate 8 new roles within healthcare, namely: information platforms, data collection technology, market intermediaries, services for remote and on-demand healthcare, augmented and virtual reality provider, blockchain-based PHR, cloud service provider, and intelligent data analysis for healthcare provider. Our results further illustrate how these roles transform value proposition, value capture, and value delivery in the healthcare industry. We discuss competition between new entrants and incumbents and elaborate how digital health innovations contribute to the changing role of patients.

Suggested Citation

  • Sebastian Hermes & Tobias Riasanow & Eric K. Clemons & Markus Böhm & Helmut Krcmar, 2020. "The digital transformation of the healthcare industry: exploring the rise of emerging platform ecosystems and their influence on the role of patients," Business Research, Springer;German Academic Association for Business Research, vol. 13(3), pages 1033-1069, November.
  • Handle: RePEc:spr:busres:v:13:y:2020:i:3:d:10.1007_s40685-020-00125-x
    DOI: 10.1007/s40685-020-00125-x
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    Cited by:

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    3. Bag, Surajit & Dhamija, Pavitra & Singh, Rajesh Kumar & Rahman, Muhammad Sabbir & Sreedharan, V. Raja, 2023. "Big data analytics and artificial intelligence technologies based collaborative platform empowering absorptive capacity in health care supply chain: An empirical study," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).
    4. Frishammar, Johan & Essén, Anna & Bergström, Frida & Ekman, Tilda, 2023. "Digital health platforms for the elderly? Key adoption and usage barriers and ways to address them," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 189(C).
    5. Pundziene, Asta & Gerulaitiene, Neringa & Bez, Sea Matilda & Georgescu, Irène & Mathieu, Christopher & Carrabina-Bordoll, Jordi & Rialp-Criado, Josep & Nieminen, Hannu & Varri, Alpo & Boethius, Susann, 2023. "Value capture and embeddedness in social-purpose-driven ecosystems. A multiple-case study of European digital healthcare platforms," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 124(C).
    6. Santarsiero, Francesco & Schiuma, Giovanni & Carlucci, Daniela & Helander, Nina, 2023. "Digital transformation in healthcare organisations: The role of innovation labs," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 122(C).
    7. Zhong Wang & Rui Xu, 2022. "Price Controls and Platform Ecosystem: A Comparative Analysis of Parking Applications between Beijing and London," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-17, May.
    8. Chang, Victor & Doan, Le Minh Thao & Ariel Xu, Qianwen & Hall, Karl & Anna Wang, Yuanyuan & Mustafa Kamal, Muhammad, 2023. "Digitalization in omnichannel healthcare supply chain businesses: The role of smart wearable devices," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 156(C).
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    10. Rainer Alt, 2021. "Electronic Markets on platform complexity," Electronic Markets, Springer;IIM University of St. Gallen, vol. 31(4), pages 737-742, December.
    11. Garcia-Perez, Alexeis & Cegarra-Navarro, Juan Gabriel & Sallos, Mark Paul & Martinez-Caro, Eva & Chinnaswamy, Anitha, 2023. "Resilience in healthcare systems: Cyber security and digital transformation," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).
    12. Ruokolainen, Jari & Nätti, Satu & Juutinen, Milla & Puustinen, Juha & Holm, Anu & Vehkaoja, Antti & Nieminen, Hannu, 2023. "Digital healthcare platform ecosystem design: A case study of an ecosystem for Parkinson's disease patients," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).
    13. Dal Mas, Francesca & Massaro, Maurizio & Rippa, Pierluigi & Secundo, Giustina, 2023. "The challenges of digital transformation in healthcare: An interdisciplinary literature review, framework, and future research agenda," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 123(C).
    14. Denicolai, Stefano & Previtali, Pietro, 2023. "Innovation strategy and digital transformation execution in healthcare: The role of the general manager," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).
    15. Whan Shin & Byungchul Choi, 2022. "Digital Competency, Innovative Medical Research, and Institutional Environment: A Global Context," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(24), pages 1-19, December.
    16. Asta Pundziene & Neringa Gerulaitiene & Sea Matilda Bez & Irène Georgescu & Christopher Mathieu & Jordi Carrabina-Bordoll & Josep Rialp-Criado & Hannu Nieminen & Alpo Varri & Susanne Boethius & Mark v, 2023. "Value capture and embeddedness in social-purpose-driven ecosystems," Post-Print hal-04147723, HAL.
    17. Münch, Christopher & Marx, Emanuel, 2022. "Supply ecosystems and the concept of resilience: A literature review," Chapters from the Proceedings of the Hamburg International Conference of Logistics (HICL), in: Kersten, Wolfgang & Jahn, Carlos & Blecker, Thorsten & Ringle, Christian M. (ed.), Changing Tides: The New Role of Resilience and Sustainability in Logistics and Supply Chain Management – Innovative Approaches for the Shift to a New , volume 33, pages 39-66, Hamburg University of Technology (TUHH), Institute of Business Logistics and General Management.
    18. Huarng, Kun-Huang & Lee, Cheng-Fang & Yu, Tiffany Hui-Kuang, 2023. "Case study of a healthcare virtual community model," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 188(C).
    19. Bronwin Patrickson & Mike Musker & Dan Thorpe & Yasmin van Kasteren & Niranjan Bidargaddi & The Consumer and Carer Advisory Group (CCAG), 2023. "In-Depth Co-Design of Mental Health Monitoring Technologies by People with Lived Experience," Future Internet, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-17, May.
    20. Paiola, Marco & Khvatova, Tatiana & Schiavone, Francesco & Ferraris, Alberto, 2023. "How do omnichannel strategies contribute to value-based healthcare? An orchestra-based analysis," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 167(C).

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