Future deployment of technology in healthcare services - A Delphi approach

Abstract

In an economy with a fast growing demand for services, productivity and innovation become crucial for the survival of service companies. In order to keep up with the change, these companies have to adopt new technologies in the service deployment. Also the healthcare industry is faced with a shift towards modern technology usage and personal services. However, due to budget restrictions, investments in new technologies have to be well considered and guarantee a swift return of investment and increase in productivity. In this paper, empirical results from different industries are presented. A Delphi study is used to get an outlook of the technology usage in the health and care provision industry. Therefore hypotheses are analyzed in detail to show possible impacts for the future. The results provide information about the significance of technology deployment for services and the potentials and barriers which go along with it in the healthcare business. © 2013 Springer-Verlag.