An e-marketplace of healthcare and social care services: the perceived interest
Abstract
Purpose
The health and social care sector is receiving growing attention due to the increased life expectancy and to the public demand for a better quality of life and better health services. New cost-efficient approaches are required, and the paper aims to present and discuss the main results of a study undertaken in a Portuguese municipality on the perceived relevance of an e-marketplace of social and healthcare services for the inhabitants in general, and for people with special needs in particular, and the identification of the most relevant services to be offered through this platform.
Design/methodology/approach
A wide survey was undertaken to identify the needs of potential users and their expectancies with relation to the proposed platform. The results of the study are a support for the project promoters to understand the viability of the solution and the requirements to the deployment of the pilot experiment, as well as to drive the selection of domains of activities/classes of services to be offered by the platform.
Findings
Services such as information about healthcare services, home monitoring/accompanying services 24 hours per day, and personal hygiene services provided at home are the ones recognized by the inquired citizens as the most important, which indicates that the potential users will be mostly people with special needs or their family or caregivers.
Originality/value
While still at a preliminary development phase, the project represents a good opportunity to develop a totally innovative service with high potential impact for the senior population and for individuals with special needs.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
Financial support provided by the Municipality of Guimaraes, under a collaboration project with the University of Minho. Foundation for Science and Technology, Lisbon, through 3° Quadro Comunitário de Apoio, and project PEst-C/CTM/LA0025/2013.
Citation
Manuela Cruz-Cunha, M., Miranda, I., Lopes, N. and Simoes, R. (2013), "An e-marketplace of healthcare and social care services: the perceived interest", The Learning Organization, Vol. 20 No. 6, pp. 406-418. https://doi.org/10.1108/TLO-10-2013-0055
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2013, Emerald Group Publishing Limited