The most important thing we can learn from the experience of other industries is the significant role that trust and established relationships will play when attempting to use the Internet to increase the number of services we provide. This can be used to our advantage. Similar to other industries, healthcare is consumer driven, and this means that patient satisfaction must be given the highest priority when considering any practice strategy. The Internet has the capability of improving patient satisfaction while lowering costs and improving productivity at the same time. Large companies currently making headlines in the healthcare industry are focused on providing information to both patients and doctors.
Information is a key reason that patients go to doctors.
This is a good thing. Providing patients and doctors with information is currently getting the most attention, but this is only one use of the Internet for the healthcare market. Since most eCommerce healthcare uses have yet to be created, all doctors face a level playing field. Depending on the volume of telephone queries received, the magnitude of this cost savings alone could represent a tremendous competitive advantage for a company. The financial impact of transaction costs for each type of service offered will vary significantly between industries.