Title: Connecting digital pharma and e-healthcare value networks through product-service design: a conceptual model

Authors: Tomás Seosamh Harrington; Thomas Alexander Burge

Addresses: Innovation, Technology and Operations Management Group, Norwich Business School, University of East Anglia (UEA), Norwich NR4 7TJ, UK ' Institute for Manufacturing (IfM), Engineering Department, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB3 0FS, UK

Abstract: With the move towards more 'outcome' and 'value'-based treatment regimens - increasingly tailored for the individual patient - there is growing pressure on healthcare systems and the pharmaceutical sector to collaborate and co-develop innovative models of care and medication. This paper focuses on the impact disruptive digital technologies may have on the UK Pharma/National Health Service (NHS) ecosystem. Underpinned by the literature on digital/IoT-based business models and product-service systems (PSS), a conceptual model for designing more 'connected' value networks is developed and validated by an expert panel. Applying the model, we assess emerging PSS concepts and scenarios involving more distributed 'make-to-order' service models - demonstrating the potential for technologies, such as 3D printing, to enable localised and personalised medication manufacture. The model reduces complexity and serves to provide practical guidance on future operating principles and protocols to be used in the design and implementation of improved e-healthcare solutions.

Keywords: e-healthcare; pharma; value network; digitalisation; servitisation.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEH.2018.092177

International Journal of Electronic Healthcare, 2018 Vol.10 No.1/2, pp.96 - 129

Received: 03 Dec 2016
Accepted: 30 Sep 2017
Published online: 07 Jun 2018 *

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