Managing patient-centered healthcare development in the light of cloud computing

Abstract

In a change situation characterized by growing aging populations, rising costs, decreasing resources there is a growing interest in the facilities provided by cloud computing for the development of e- Health and a patient-centered healthcare process. Though, the inter-organizational characteristics of the situation challenge management to align many technological, organizational, functional, and cultural issues. Therefore, the aim of this study was to contribute to management of patient-centered healthcare development and thus, to the good life of frail older adults. The investigation was conducted through an empirical study based on an extensive literature review. The primary data was collected from interviews with seven professionals with long experience within healthcare system, decision makers and providers. Secondary data was derived from two reports; the first report reflected the life of frail older adults and the second explained national e-health ambition in Sweden. The result showed that there are contrasting views on development of healthcare, weak communication among different levels of professional stakeholders regarding e-health and patientcentered healthcare process and little understanding of knowledge needed for dealing with the change situation and managing patient-centered healthcare development. Conclusions, however suggests that management could be enriched and find new inspiration by implementing theoretically underpinned guidelines for stakeholder information sharing and communication.