Digitization of healthcare organizations: The digital health landscape and information theory

Abstract

BackgroundThis paper builds on an integrated framework of digital opportunities, based on information theory that was initially proposed by Claude Shannon: 1) providers of infrastructure for transmitting information; 2) platforms, devices, and software to bundle, store and deliver others’ content; 3) original content creator); 4) platforms enabling peer-to-peer exchange; and 5) connected intelligence embed in devices. We aimed to clarify the meaning of digitization of organisations in the healthcare landscape and answer ‘how can healthcare organisations compete in a world that is rapidly digitizing?’. MethodsTo gain more insight into the views of different stakeholders, we invited 12 participants with a wide range of backgrounds to a workshop. Stakeholders included people representing the views from patients, carers, local hospitals, pharmacy retailers, health insurers, health services researchers, engineers, and technology and pharmaceutical companies. We organised the workshop at the IMD business school in Lausanne and used Switzerland as a case study. We asked participants to take part in group work to identify organisations with digital health products and their key success factors. We evaluated organisations’ aims and competencies, and through which pathway they competed. Main findingsThere was overlap in some key success factors, such as security, interoperability, low cost, and enough people using it, between different types of digital opportunities of the framework. No organisations that were identified during the workshop were currently operating in different opportunities. We found a range of different ways through which digital health organisations partnered with other organisations. The relatively smaller organisations identified in our workshop operated through one pathway. Principal conclusionsThis work has implications for organisations in understanding the digital health landscape and their competitors’ digital initiatives. Firstly, organisations can identify where they operate and map strengths and limitations of their digital initiatives. Secondly, they can learn from different competition pathways: 1) develop new capabilities faster; 2) collaborate with technology organisations; 3) create collaborations with traditional competitors; and 4) create a new business model. This knowledge needs to be the basis for the development of digital solutions, which will be crucial for the survival of many organisations in the healthcare landscape.