Book excerpt: Masterarbeit aus dem Jahr 2014 im Fachbereich BWL - Unternehmensführung, Management, Organisation, Note: 1,3, Universität Mannheim, Sprache: Deutsch, Abstract: Healthcare is one of the fastest growing sectors in the service economy (Sisko et al., 2009). This development is due to the aging society, mounting competitive pressure and ever more emerging treatments and technologies (Andaleeb, 2001). Being an enormously expensive, very complex, information-intensive and universally used service, healthcare significantly affects economies and the quality of daily life (Berry & Bendapudi, 2007). Since the early 1950s computer technologies have been utilized to collect and manage information (Atienza et al., 2007). The development of computer processing and its implications for the speed, memory and possibilities of network infrastructures to process large amounts of data are seen as a promising way to achieve needed changes within healthcare like lowering costs and enhancing quality. These developments have created a wide range of possibilities for individuals, groups and populations to assess and deliver health information. However, the healthcare sector lags behind other sectors in the utilization of communication and information technology (ICT) and thus exhibits a chance for sustainable growth. Implementations of potentially beneficial e-health technologies are currently in process, often with significant impact on national expenditure. The UK has, for example, invested at least € 16 billion in a national programme for information technology for national health services (Catwell & Sheikh, 2009). Such large-scale expenditure has been justified on the grounds that e-health solutions will help address the problems of cost-effectiveness, quality and safety in modern healthcare. Despite the surge in technological capabilities the responding research and evaluation methodologies have not kept pace with the evolution of information and communication technologies in healthcare. Therefore, E-health research is at an early stage of development (Atienza et al., 2007). E-health, in contrast to other health industries like pharmaceuticals or medical devices, is not systematically assessed with respect to safety, quality and impacts (Stroetmann et al., 2006). The benefits and overall positive effects of the use of information technology seem clear in theory but the healthcare sector has been slow in adopting information systems and the implementation has proven difficult (Chaudrey et al., 2006). [...]