Describing Health Service Platform Architectures: A Guiding Framework

Abstract

Health service platforms (HSPs) facilitate new ways of delivering health care, in order to improve care effectiveness and efficiency. HSPs are a sub-type of digital platforms that have a different purpose compared to market-oriented platforms for product innovation or economic transactions. Hence, traditional descriptions of digital platform architecture, such as the layered modular architecture, may not be sufficient to capture the essential features of HSPs. We create an initial framework for describing HSP architectures in a manner that reflects their purpose, drawing from literature on Service-Dominant Logic and architectural patterns. The framework will be used to guide a multiple-case study of HSP architecture. The results of this research will extend current conceptualizations of digital platform architectures and provide a systematic approach for designing or evolving HSP platform architectures in a manner that better meets patients’ and other health care stakeholders’ needs.Information and Communication Technolog