New e-service development in the homecare sector: beyond implementing a radical technology

Area of Science:

• Health Informatics
• Service Innovation
• Information Systems

Background:

• The long-term homecare sector faces increasing demand for technology-based services.
• Innovation in this area is crucial for improving care delivery and patient outcomes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore the constituents and challenges of technology-based service innovation in long-term homecare.
• To analyze the integration of service management, information systems, and medical informatics in telehomecare projects.

Main Methods:

• Utilized purposeful extreme case sampling and a mixed-methods approach.
• Incorporated focus groups and interviews to gather insights from an innovative telehomecare project.
• Applied a framework integrating service management, information systems innovation, and medical informatics theory.

Main Results:

• Abstract benefits of technology are difficult to translate into practical service concepts.
• Organizations struggle to reconcile technological capabilities with existing service delivery and user preferences.
• Key decisions remain regarding service reengineering, non-technology resources, and defining user roles.

Conclusions:

• Radical service innovation in homecare necessitates a comprehensive development model and organizational mindfulness.
• Exploiting radical technical innovations requires significant organizational and non-technology resource development.
• Involving all stakeholders from project inception is vital for achieving sustainable benefits through combined technological and non-technological resources.