Fad or Trend? Rethinking the Sustainability of Connected Health

Abstract

Policymakers, academics, and industry players have been focused on determining whether connected health (CH) is a fad or a trend by looking at its sustainability. Although the significance of innovation in healthcare is gradually rising, a definitive identification and systematic comprehension of the core drivers, structure, content, and pattern of innovation in CH are missing. To bridge this gap, this study re-examines and analyses CH from the perspectives of its industrial chain and structure, to assess its future prospects and sustainability by focusing on how its structures and participants act in the ecosystem. This study involves an inductive theory building approach based on multi-stage, semi-structured interviews (n = 60 in total). The results indicate that the core drivers, constituents, and components of CH need to be identified and restructured. A valid discourse, which is missing in the current literature, should be proposed with regard to the sustainability of CH. A sustainable business model innovation (BMI) system and the methods employed to achieve sustainability are suggested to discover indicators for future success. This study enriches the current CH understanding from a technology perspective and suggests some implications for practitioners as well as policymakers to enhance sustainable development in the healthcare sector.

How Geographical Isolation and Aging in Place Can Be Accommodated Through Connected Health Stakeholder Management: Qualitative Study With Focus Groups

“…The rise of the patient-centered concept has increased the complexity of the health care system, which motivates partnerships between the public sector and private actors in stakeholder management [18]. The literature indicates that a situation with a multitude of actors with diverse interests suggests a loosely connected network, for those who attempt to influence policy will need to work with international-level, federal-level, and regional-level actors because they play an important role in bridging and connecting the decentralized regional-level and local-level actors as well as in initiating policy engagement and change [19,20].…”

Embedding the Pillars of Quality in Health Information Technology Solutions Using “Integrated Patient Journey Mapping” (IPJM): Case Study

“…However, Chen et al [ 18 ] noted that these targets can only be achieved through appropriately designed interventions. This requires inputs from all relevant stakeholders to design connected health solutions that not only fit the needs of patients [ 19 ] but also fit within the health care ecosystems and are viable and sustainable in the long term [ 18 ]. The mapping tool that we present in this paper is aimed specifically at eliciting and channeling the opinions and preferences of a varied group of stakeholders around the possible use of HIT across a medical pathway.…”