Title: From buzzword to business strategy: the case for information and decision support systems in e-healthcare

Authors: Appa Rao Korukonda, Saritha Korukonda

Addresses: Department of Management/Computer Information Systems, College of Business, Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania, Room 247 Sutliff Hall, 400 East Second Street, Bloomsburg, PA 17815–1301, USA. ' 1323 Bloom Road, Danville, PA 17821, USA

Abstract: Although electronic healthcare can boast of a remarkable origin in modern-day e-commerce in the form of Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), its mission-critical nature in information-based strategising is yet to be realised. Restricting the scope of e-healthcare management to product advertisements and website management reflects an unfortunate trend of underutilisation of the scope of electronic decision support systems in pricing and other business strategies. This paper aims to illustrate how this trend can be corrected by transforming e-healthcare into a full-fledged business strategy for strategic positioning and corporate profitability. This argument is illustrated with the aid of a business example related to transfer pricing.

Keywords: e-healthcare; business strategy; transfer pricing; differential pricing; strategic pricing; international healthcare; decision support systems; information sytems.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEH.2006.010426

International Journal of Electronic Healthcare, 2006 Vol.2 No.4, pp.362 - 377

Published online: 21 Jul 2006 *

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