Health Information on the Internet - State of the Art and Analysis

Electronic Health (e-Health) increasingly strives to provide health information and services to healthcare stakeholders via the Internet, and to actively involve patients in their care. One major chance for these participatory healthcare and patient-centered approaches that integrate patients in healthcare are the phenomena and ideas associated with providing information and healthcare on the Internet. This paper examines the existing body of knowledge on online health information and explores the current state of research through a review of literature as well as past and current research projects. The fundamental categories of the analysis represent the stakeholders in the healthcare sector, the connecting information flows, the information-transferring technological applications, as well as the categories of the TEMPEST model. Based on these findings, causes and future research fields are discussed. The technological category has the largest share of all categories. Based on these findings, causes and future research fields are discussed

Empowering Technical Customer Services with Intelligent Mobile Applications: A Contingency Theory-Based Approach

In order to improve the efficiency of technical customer services (TCS) business processes, we propose to focus on thisinformation and its provision to service technicians. Based on contingencytheory, we suggest increasing the information processing capacities of servicetechnicians. Up to now, methodical and technical support is missing for providing the relevantinformation to service technicians and for improving their information processing capacities.Consequently we propose an approach for leveraging productivity of TCS by empowering theservice technicians. Following a design science approach, we developa mobile assistant system in order to support an intelligent, mobileaccess to needed information and an integrated feedback functionality. Furthermore, we suggestthat this empowerment based on intelligent mobile applications leads to continuous informationmanagement. Our approach supports an empowerment of individual service technicians, leads toan improvement of business culture, and leverages employees’ motivation and skills

Web 2.0 in SME Networks - A Design Science Approach Considering Multi-Perspective Requirements

As small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) face new challenges in a complex and dynamic competitive environment, they need to cooperate due to their restricted resources and limited capacities. At this, Enterprise 2.0 is seen as a supporting approach. To this date, there is a lack of academic publications concerning recommendations for the application of Web 2.0 artifacts in SME-networks. This paper aims at bridging this gap by suggesting a conceptual base following the design science approach. Based on technical and organizational requirements resulting from exploratory interviews with representatives of SMEs participating in a regional SME-network, we transfer the requirements in a prototypic concept. This developed artifact provides a basis for a field test to evaluate the concept and for further research

Lecture Recording in a Blended Learning Arrangement for Teaching Enterprise Resource Planning Systems - Framework, Prototypical Implementation and Evaluation

Universities aim at educing high qualified students that are able to work in practice as well as in research after their graduation. Therefore academic courses have to satisfy high didactical, professional und practical demands. Blended learning as the preferred instrument in teaching enterprise resource planning systems will be presented by a prototypical implementation in a case based framework. The principal objectives of the afterwards evaluation were to determine the overall effectiveness of the system in supporting students learning activities and to better understand students learning processes. Qualitative analysis indicates that students were motivated to use the system in order to repeat difficult contents and to be timely independent. Findings further deliver the main recommendation to keep recorded lectures smaller than the original face-to-face course

Benchmarking G2B eServices in the US: A Survey to Identify Maturity Levels Based on the Mystery User Approach

As public administrations are increasingly transforming towards customer-oriented service providers, the availability of municipal E-Services increases. Particularly, E-Services addressed to Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) representing 90 % of all enterprises in the U.S. are of interest. While generic surveys on E-Government portals are conducted manifold, surveys dedicated to Government-to-Business (G2B) E-Services are neglected. Thus, the paper presents the status quo by illustrating the results of a benchmarking survey. The survey analyzes the offer of G2B E-Services in 50 U.S. large and capital cities. Furthermore, the identified criteria for the survey provide a basis for a maturity model. The study is accomplished according to the “Procedural model for the Benchmarking of Service” – DIN PAS 1014 and is conducted with the “Mystery User” approach. The findings of the survey address academic research as well as administration practice in the context of E-Government

Web 2.0 in Healthcare: The Rise of a Fashion Wave? Examining the Discourse in the Literature

Electronic Health (eHealth) increasingly refers to possibilities that arise from the so-called innovation “Web 2.0”. Accordingto management fashion theory, many innovations can be classified as a fashion and only offer minor benefits fororganizations. Such fashions have a diffusion and a discourse lifecycle. In this study we shed light on the discourse on Web2.0 in healthcare. In order to explore how the discourse has emerged, we examine a selection of both the scholarly IS researchand practitioner-oriented literature. Our findings show that there is almost no academic discourse on Web 2.0 in healthcare inthe IS research literature. In contrast, we find an ongoing discourse on the subject with a wave-like shape in the domainspecificand practitioner-oriented literature. Our findings also provide some arguments for the debate on the link betweenscholarly IS literature and their practical relevance

DIFFUSION OF WEB 2.0 IN HEALTHCARE: A COMPLETE INVENTORY COUNT IN THE GERMAN HEALTH INSURANCE LANDSCAPE

The Internet is increasingly used as a source for information and knowledge. In the context of information gathering on health-related issues via Internet, healthcare institutions such as health insurance companies are important information providers. In this context the emergence and broad adoption of Web 2.0 technologies can be observed. As health insurance companies play a highly relevant role in the German healthcare system, we conduct a comparative analysis. The following questions are of interest: (1) How many German health insurance providers apply Web 2.0 technologies? (2) How has the application of Web 2.0 technologies in the German health insurance landscape changed? (3) Does diffusion and growth indicate an increasing fashion wave in this context? According to an adapted conceptual model for Web 2.0 use, all private and public health insurances were analyzed according to the use of Web 2.0 technologies. Our results show that public health insurers provide more Web 2.0 technologies than private health insurance providers. The inter-temporal analysis between 2009 and 2010 shows some significant changes for the diffusion of Web 2.0 technologies

Laboratory experiments as evaluating method for IT artifacts – Experimental design and use case within a Product-Service-System

According to the paradigm of Design Science Research, IT artifacts are developed and built to solve real-life problems that occur in business life. Since Design Science Research consists of two phases, it is divided in the building and the evaluation phase. The evaluation phase is considered to be highly important as it analyses the relevance and the functionality of the artifact. To evaluate if an artifact meets the users’ needs, experiments are a possible method. Based on findings in a current research project, we present an experiment design to evaluate artifacts being part of Product-Service-Systems. The design is applied in a use case and supplemented by statistical data to analyze how the artifact meets the users’ needs

Participatory Design of Web 2.0 Applications in SME Networks

In increasingly complex and dynamic markets, small and medium sized enterprises (SME) face new challenges. Amongst others, these are innovativeness and technological expertise. In order to counteract the challenges, SMEs cooperate in corporate networks. Here, information and communication technologies are main drivers. At this point, Web 2.0 technologies are uttermost important. Until now, the development and implementation of Web 2.0 applications in SMEs was proceeded independently from the future users. We aim at bridging this gap by developing a participatory procedural model. The presented model includes the futures users from the beginning of the development process. The model respects SME specific characteristics

Supporting Technical Customer Services with Mobile Devices: Towards an Integrated Information System Architecture

Due to increasing complexity of machines and plants, information tailored to the needs of Technical Customer Services(TCS) is a prerequisite for the execution of efficient service processes. This paper describes the conception of a supportingarchitecture incorporating an integration platform to meet the TCS’ demand for information. On the one hand, the developedarchitecture directs the integration of data from different specialized systems to cover the aforementioned information needs.On the other hand, it enables the feedback of the TCS to other corporate departments which is often neglected. The systemclasses to be integrated are presented besides options and technologies for realizing the integration platform. The articlecreates a framework for future discussions on information technology integration to support the TCS