Home Healthcare Services: a Case in Service-dominant-logic in the Marketing of Technology-based Services

Purpose Home health care services rely on clinical and administrative technologies generally known as ―telemedicine‖. The purpose of this paper is to describe a case in the implementation of home care initiated by a major urban trauma hospital for patients with chronic diseases, thus to make the case for the use of service-dominant logic in the implementation of technologies in the service sector. Design/methodology/approach The method used is an actual case of the use of wireless technologies in remoter home care for chronic patients. Barriers to the implementation are listed and these are proposed as explanations of the very slow pace of the implementation process. Findings The findings from this study are twofold. First, we found that the main barriers are not technological but anchored in the logic of marketing services to patients. Secondly the paper concluded that by employing service-dominant logic to the provision of technology-based home care services we can increase the pace of implementation of home care and the value of the services provided. Practical implications The implication for service industries such as transportation, finance, and healthcare is that successful implementation and use of information and telecommunication technologies must be based on servicedominant logic in the marketing and management of these technologies. It’s not enough to provide customers with workable and current technologies. The key to successful implementation is a broader view of these applications as services, not just technologies. Originality/value This study provides evidence to the theory that the main barriers to the widespread implementation of telemedicine in home care situations are managerial and behavioral, not technological. The provision of remote home care is an example of a service miniworld, encapsulated within a critical service industry of health care delivery.