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Enabling Consumer-Driven Service Innovation in Health Care: The Role of Online Health Information Technologies (HIT)

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Information Technology and Product Development

Part of the book series: Annals of Information Systems ((AOIS,volume 5))

Abstract

In the past few years, consumer participation in health care has increased significantly with the ready availability of medical information on health websites and the ability to interact in disease-focused online health communities. Importantly, such consumer participation also involves creating new knowledge based on consumers’ direct experiences with particular diseases and treatments – new knowledge that could lead to new or improved services. Such consumer-driven service innovation has assumed critical importance as most healthcare organizations come under considerable pressure to enhance the value they offer to their consumers (or patients). In this chapter, we argue that an important task for value-driven healthcare organizations is to facilitate consumer driven service innovation in health care through appropriate use of online health information technologies. We adopt a knowledge creation perspective and propose a theoretical framework that explains how health websites and online health communities together can facilitate creation of innovative service ideas through knowledge socialization, combination, externalization, and internalization. Implications for future research on the role of IT in service innovation in health care are discussed. The implications for strategies and practices adopted by healthcare organizations are also examined.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Health Policy, Management and Behavior, School of Public Health, University at Albany, SUNY, One University Place, Rm 185, 12144, Rensselaer, NY, USA

    Priya Nambisan

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  1. Priya Nambisan
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Correspondence to Priya Nambisan .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Lally School of Management &, Rensselaer Polytechnic Inst., 8th Street 110, Troy, 12180, U.S.A.

    Satish Nambisan

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Nambisan, P. (2010). Enabling Consumer-Driven Service Innovation in Health Care: The Role of Online Health Information Technologies (HIT). In: Nambisan, S. (eds) Information Technology and Product Development. Annals of Information Systems, vol 5. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-1081-3_8

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