Co-creation of value in healthcare through information technology

Abstract

Technology has been an important part of many industries, including healthcare. Health information technology has potential to escalate efficiency, quality and safety for patients. Technology has also extended the boundaries of healthcare, as patients are now able to access their health information online and make active use of it. In Finland, Kanta (Kansallinen Terveysarkisto) is a platform that supports this endeavor. Meanwhile, in strategic management, co-creation of value is the rising concept in which consumers are more actively involved in creating valuable experience. Bringing together healthcare, information technology, and co-creation ideas provides new opportunities for co-production of care. The purpose of this thesis is to understand how the utilization of information technology in healthcare co-creates value.

The thesis conducts a single case study with semi-structured interviews with health professionals and users at case institution to provide perspectives from both sides which is needed to understand the processes of value co-creation. Secondary data were collected through various websites, reports and articles from governmental and non-governmental institutions.

The researcher found that information technology has facilitated simplification of certain process for health professionals and indirect communication. On the other hand, value co-creation is still hardly produced because there is limited active involvement from users at the moment.

The research is limited in several ways. First, methodologically, single case study limits the generalizability of the study findings to other organizations or context. Second, the study was conducted within limited time frame, therefore if significant changes have been done in the case institution, the study findings can not be extrapolated to other times. Finally, data collection is limited in terms of user age group and geographical factors.