User innovation rings the bell for new horizons in e-health: a bibliometric analysis

Abstract

PurposeThe study examines the amplifying role of users in the e-healthcare sector and holistically show its current state and potential. The paper aims at contributing to the scientific literature with a comprehensive review of the current state of the art on the application of user innovation (UI) in the e-healthcare sector, as a solid step for discussing the potential, trends, managerial gaps and future research avenues in this field. Despite the crucial importance of the topic and increasing attention toward it in the last few years, there is a lack of comprehensive scrutiny on different angles of involving users in health technology innovations so far.Design/methodology/approachThis study combines two methods of bibliometric analysis and extensive content analysis of 169 journal articles on Scopus and Web of Science to unfold five research questions regarding the mechanisms of involving users, innovations characteristics and the role of users throughout the innovation process.FindingsA clear result of the applied methodology is the profiling of users involved in e-health innovations in seven categories. The results of this study shed light on the current practice of not involving users in all the stages of the innovation process of m-health, telemedicine, self-managing technologies, which is contrary to the best practices of the UI application.Research limitations/implicationsCollection of relevant studies due to lack of comprehensibility of the keywords.Practical implicationsThe offered propositions can act as a roadmap to potential research opportunities as well as to organize such innovations from a managerial perspective in particular healthcare organization managers and the middle managers operating at R&D sectors and policymakers.Originality/valueThis study is the first of its kind that digs out the application of UI strategies such as user-centered design in the context of e-healthcare and provides a bibliometric and extensive content analysis of the studies conducted in this theme over the years.

Users' involvement in digital health collaborative projects

“…Ghulam and Robinson (2006) found that users are more involved in testing and trial phases but also participate in concept definition and design phases. Similarly, Ghasemzadeh et al . (2022) have demonstrated that users typically engage in few or just one phase, with the testing phase being the most common, followed by the concept development and data collection phases.…”

“…Ghulam and Robinson (2006) found that users are more involved in testing and trial phases but also participate in concept definition and design phases. Similarly, Ghasemzadeh et al (2022) have demonstrated that users typically engage in few or just one phase, with the testing phase being the most common, followed by the concept development and data collection phases. In contrast, Gloms as et al (2020) have revealed that users wanted more involvement, more information in all parts of the process, better response to their feedback on projects and the possibility of seeing the benefits of the technology.…”

“…Regarding users' motivations to be involved in digital health innovation projects, Ghasemzadeh et al (2022) found that users are motivated to participate due to the self-interest in seeing their problems fixed through the innovation. On the other hand, Bjørkquist et al (2015) reveal that the most important role of the users for the project is as a source of information and to increase the legitimacy of the innovation.…”

“…Regarding users' motivations to be involved in digital health innovation projects, Ghasemzadeh et al . (2022) found that users are motivated to participate due to the self-interest in seeing their problems fixed through the innovation.…”

The role of open innovation in addressing resource constraints in healthcare: a systematic literature review

“…Second, the healthcare technology value assessment frameworks focus on the technology attributes such as the benefits of the technology, affordability, societal impact, disease burden, quality of evidence, cost-effectiveness, ethics and equity, unmet needs and level of innovation (Zhang et al, 2022). Also, Ghasemzadeh et al (2022), when studying why users participate in healthcare innovations, focus on the "characteristics of the resulting innovations". However, users participating in open innovation projects found intangible benefits such as community participation, learning and entertainment valuable (Antikainen et al, 2010).…”