Abstract

Inspired by the vast opportunities that today's technologies provide and driven by the need to both cut the costs and increase the quality of health services delivery, many e-health initiatives and ventures were launched in the last couple of years. However, a large number of these projects failed. They were either not able to articulate a clear value proposition to patients or lacked a sustainable profit generation formula. It seems to be difficult to understand the business logic behind e-health services in today's complex environment. This study aims to analyze and explain the business logic of e-health service provisions. Based on a design pattern-based approach, three distinct examples are illustrated as archetypical design solutions of successful business models: freemium, two-sided market, and crowd-based e-health. Explanations of the different, isolated business logics help to foster the understanding of the essence of value creation and revenue flows. These findings provide an instrument for e-health marketers to develop more sustainable business models. They facilitate further research in innovation and experimentation with different business model designs.

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