A Manifesto for E-Health Success: The Key Role for ANT

Healthcare is the biggest service industry on the globe. Sadly, it has yet to realize the full potential of e-health, which is in stark contrast to other e-business initiatives such as e-government and e-education, e-finance, or e-commerce. However, as all OECD countries grapple with key challenges which are impacting the delivery of cost effective quality healthcare, all are agreed that e-health may hold the key. This makes it more important than ever for successful adoption of e-health. It is the contention of this paper that to be e-health prepared is necessary but not sufficient for successful e-health solutions to be realized. The paper asserts that it is only by embracing a rich theoretical lens of analysis that the full potential of e-health can be harnessed and thus it proffers ANT (Actor-network Theory) as such a lens. DOI: 10.4018/jantti.2012070103 International Journal of Actor-Network Theory and Technological Innovation, 4(3), 24-35, July-September 2012 25 Copyright © 2012, IGI Global. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of IGI Global is prohibited. Taken together and applied systematically this will then enable a critical assessment of the areas that e-health initiatives should best target as well as the necessary steps and key success factors that must be addressed such as technological, infrastructure, education or policy elements. However, the paper goes further and notes that simply being e-health prepared is a necessary but not sufficient condition. It identifies the need to incorporate a rich theoretical lens of actor-network theory (ANT) in order to truly uncover all key issues and thereby ensure successful realization of the full potential of any e-health solution.