Intermediation Structures in Electronic Healthcare Portals

View Free PDF

Author(s): Jonathan Wareham (Georgia State University, USA)and Richard Klein (Georgia State University, USA)
Copyright: 2001
Pages: 5
Source title: Managing Information Technology in a Global Economy
Source Editor(s): Mehdi Khosrow-Pour, D.B.A. (Information Resources Management Association, USA)
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-930708-07-5.ch106
ISBN13: 9781930708075
EISBN13: 9781466665323

Keywords: Engineering Science Reference / IT Research & Theory / IT Research and Theory / Library & Information Science

Abstract

Despite the fact that commercial intermediation accounts for over 15% of the US GDP (Spulber, 1996), it has commanded limited attention from the academic community. Moreover, popular discourse has heralded the Internet’s ability to dis-intermediate supply chains and channels, directing attention away from intermediation. In contrast, this paper focuses upon a sector of the economy that has witnessed a surge in electronic intermediation, namely, the healthcare industry. Founded on a survey of leading healthcare portals, this paper documents and analyzes four predominant patterns of functional intermediation in this new form of IT-enabled commercial institution. Based upon an historical analysis of healthcare portals, functional, generalizable patterns of intermediation are posited.

IRMA Offers Over 2,500 Full Text Open Access Research Papers for Free Download Click to Start Searching Free IRM Research!

IRMA Sponsors

Encyclopedia of Information Science and Technology, Fourth Edition