New service development in German and Austrian health care - bringing e-health services into the market

The future challenges of work sharing and networking in health care and its management require a common information base and cross-interaction structures. The aim is to adapt the solution-oriented and knowledge-based hybrid services to the individual patient needs. Patients, health professionals, and the institution that finances the service all play a critical role. Therefore, in the context of the development of new e-health services in the German and Austrian health care system, the following question arises: How do the different requirements of the demand and supply perspective in the health care system influence the development of market-ready e-health services in the regional mobile health care in Germany and Austria? In addition to a conceptual new service development, it is necessary to ensure that there is a viable financial model and the acceptance of the users. Furthermore, the new e-health service has to be integrated carefully into the existing care processes. The users (e.g. patients, family members, health professionals) neither want to nor are able to become IT- or e-health specialists. These people will not be able to understand and should not have to coordinate the complexity behind the hybrid service (e.g. plug and play). It is vital that an independent e-health service provider offers and guarantees the basic performance of the hybrid e-health service