Doctorpreneurship in the Digital Age

Abstract

Many of the challenges faced by the various sectors of the economy are seen as opportunities by entrepreneurs. Yet, entrepreneurs are by definition excluded from a large part of the health sector due to the specialised nature of the medical profession and the complexities associated with service provision in the area of healthcare. In this paper, the term ‘Doctorpreneur' is used to connote doctors who engage in entrepreneurship in the health sector. The study adopts the Maslow's theory of motivation, the Herzberg's two-factor theory, and the theory of affordance to explore factors that promote ‘doctorpreneurship' in the digital age, using Ghana's health sector as a case. The findings of this qualitative study suggest that besides the monetary gains that primarily motivate doctors to engage in doctorpreneurship, other individual, organizational, and technological factors also underpin the phenomenon. Furthermore, the findings underscore the role of technology in consolidating doctorpreneurship in the digital age. The study presents several implications for research, policy, and practice.