Get 20M+ Full-Text Papers For Less Than $1.50/day. Start a 14-Day Trial for You or Your Team.

Learn More →

Transforming patients to consumers: evaluating national healthcare portals

Transforming patients to consumers: evaluating national healthcare portals Purpose – One prominent translation of patient‐centred care is public sector consumerism by which patients may influence the services provided by acting like consumers. The focus of this study is the extent to which technological devices in national public healthcare portals in the UK and three Nordic countries transform patients so that they can act as healthcare consumers. Design/methodology/approach – The paper applies a comparative case study methodology. Findings – As national healthcare portals, Norway's technological devices, to some extent, and the devices in the UK and Denmark, to a greater extent, equip patients to act as consumers. At present, Sweden's technological devices are much more limited. In Denmark and the UK, these devices that use quality indicators are in the forefront in the development of national healthcare portals. Originality/value – A theoretical framework is applied that emphasizes the role of technological devices in the construction of calculating consumers as described by Michel Callon. This perspective, which promotes patient‐centred care, enhances the understanding of fundamental design issues related to the role of technology as the individual forms his/her relationship with healthcare systems. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png International Journal of Public Sector Management Emerald Publishing

Transforming patients to consumers: evaluating national healthcare portals

Loading next page...
 
/lp/emerald-publishing/transforming-patients-to-consumers-evaluating-national-healthcare-I00dZHmhF8

References (28)

Publisher
Emerald Publishing
Copyright
Copyright © 2010 Emerald Group Publishing Limited. All rights reserved.
ISSN
0951-3558
DOI
10.1108/09513551011047224
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Purpose – One prominent translation of patient‐centred care is public sector consumerism by which patients may influence the services provided by acting like consumers. The focus of this study is the extent to which technological devices in national public healthcare portals in the UK and three Nordic countries transform patients so that they can act as healthcare consumers. Design/methodology/approach – The paper applies a comparative case study methodology. Findings – As national healthcare portals, Norway's technological devices, to some extent, and the devices in the UK and Denmark, to a greater extent, equip patients to act as consumers. At present, Sweden's technological devices are much more limited. In Denmark and the UK, these devices that use quality indicators are in the forefront in the development of national healthcare portals. Originality/value – A theoretical framework is applied that emphasizes the role of technological devices in the construction of calculating consumers as described by Michel Callon. This perspective, which promotes patient‐centred care, enhances the understanding of fundamental design issues related to the role of technology as the individual forms his/her relationship with healthcare systems.

Journal

International Journal of Public Sector ManagementEmerald Publishing

Published: Jun 1, 2010

Keywords: Personal health; Consumers; Patient care; Portals; Scandinavia; United Kingdom

There are no references for this article.