Alexander Schachinger*, Humboldt University Berlin, Partner University of UofT, Berlin, Germany Track: Practice Presentation Topic: other Presentation Type: Oral presentation Submission Type: Single Presentation Building: MECC Room: Auditorium 2 Date: 2010-11-30 09:30 AM – 10:00 AM Last modified: 2010-11-17

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When analyzing patient-centered medicare-concepts of the traditional healthcare providers throughout the European countries it seems as if for the majority of those digital communication plays yet a minor role or is of no importance at all. This is primarily ex-plainable due to the regulative environment around beneficiary and provider of any given healthcare system of the industrialized countries of Europe. Digital innovations, platforms, networks and services and especially the openness and non-regulated sociability of the internet are difficult to integrate into a rigid healthcare system and only reluctantly and hesitantly fostered for a future healthcare system´s medicare.

This is one of the main reasons why the healthconsumer- and patient-centric supply side of internet based health products and services are mainly offered and lead by non-traditional market players such as companies from the publishing-, the media-, the IT- or software industries. An observable health consumer and patient audience disruption within digital healthcare is paralleled by the fact that over 70 percent of the e-patient´s related internet traffic (e.g. in Germany) is channeled via so called health-system external websites from non-traditional players. Therefore a structured analysis of the status quo and future development of digital healthcare communication, relevant websites and, above all user profiles offer valuable insight of possible integrations and disruptions within digital healthcare and medicare services. Firsthand analysis results on this for Germany will be presented.
Results of two nationwide e-patient online-surveys from 2009 and 2010 with over 3500 cumulative participants show that health related internet based information, communica-tion and subsequent collaboration among patients and caregivers helps to cope better and more productive with individual illness, its diagnose, comply to a given therapy and rehabilitation and its possible alternatives in relevant dimensions. Furthermore the impact of internet based healthcare experience among patients obviously influences their beha-vior vis a vis care givers and overall healthcare market participants, even leading to e-patients direct influence on practitioners prescribing behavior in favor of the e-patients requests. Selected survey results and their implications will be presented.

The key findings and the consequences of these analyses of both the supply and demand side of internet based health information and services clearly indicate and suggest the active integration of digital communication into present and future medicare and disease management programmes.