The co-evolution of digital infrastructures and definitions of health, wealth and care
New technologies for generating, storing, and learning from health-data consistently provide new opportunities for creating new health and wellness services. Our research aims to advance knowledge about how, when, and why such technological opportunities are (not) incorporated into service offerings, and with what consequences. We focus on the following broad questions:
- How does the institutional structure of healthcare enable and constrain the emergence of new digital infrastructures and e-services in healthcare?
- How can digital, medical, and organizational innovations combine to generate institutional transformation in specific fields of care?
- How can the enactment of digital health technology reconfigure the relationship between citizens, service providers, and the state?
- How can centralization and decentralization be combined in the digital health innovation platforms of the future?
We approach these broad questions from a number of different theoretical perspectives. Our publications use empirical studies of Swedish quality registries, the Swedish national health information exchange, Patient reported outcomes measures, algorithms in specialist care, public display of healthcare results, patient accessible electronic health records, and healthcare blockchains, among other areas.
The Researcher
Anna Essén
Associate Professor - Department of Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Technology