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Title: Quadruple helix collaboration for eHealth: a business relationship approach

Authors: Maria Qvarfordt; Stefan Lagrosen; Lina Nilsson

Addresses: Department of Medicine and Optometry, eHealth Institute, Linnaeus University, Kalmar, 391 82, Sweden ' Department of Management, School of Business and Economics, Linnaeus University, Kalmar, 391 82, Sweden ' Department of Medicine and Optometry, eHealth Institute, Linnaeus University, Kalmar, 391 82, Sweden

Abstract: Collaboration between various stakeholders is crucial for healthcare digitalisation and eHealth utilisation. Given that valuable outcomes can emerge from collaborative interactions among multiple stakeholders, exploring a quadruple helix (QH) approach to collaboration may be fruitful in involving the public sector, business, citizens, and academia. Therefore, this study aimed to explore stakeholder views on eHealth collaboration from a QH perspective using the grounded theory methodology. First, an inductive qualitative study involving all stakeholders in the QH was conducted. Subsequently, the findings were related to the actor-resource-activity (ARA) model of business relationships. The results emphasise the role of considering diverse perspectives on collaboration because digitalisation and eHealth require teamwork to benefit the end users within various settings. A model depicting the various aspects of the ARA model related to digitalisation in a healthcare QH setting is presented.

Keywords: quadruple helix perspective; collaboration; healthcare digitalisation; business relations; ARA model; global healthcare.

DOI: 10.1504/IJHTM.2024.140387

International Journal of Healthcare Technology and Management, 2024 Vol.21 No.2, pp.89 - 110

Received: 16 Apr 2023
Accepted: 03 May 2024
Published online: 06 Aug 2024 *