Administrative connectivity shifts nonfinancial transactions online, like processing invoices, tracking orders, and scheduling doctors' appointments. It will lower operational costs for care providers, speed delivery of supplies, enhance management of patient information, and free physician time for better patient care. Financial connectivity will shift payment and billing for care online. Automating the claims process between care providers and their payers or between hospitals and their suppliers will reduce costs and delays associated with manual payments. Finally, clinical connectivity will enable sharing of diagnostic and treatment data via the Internet across the value chain making it possible for care providers to diagnose collaboratively in real time and lowering costs by tracking treatment progress online.
National governments play a critical role in curing the crippling effect of organizational inertia.
Not surprisingly, the Nordic countries have zoomed ahead of the pack because their disposition to fast technology adoption, aggressive government initiatives in centralizing healthcare systems, and small populations remove friction in building connectivity. But the UK, Germany, Switzerland, and the Netherlands will also grab a spot in the leadership group. 2000 Europe Benchmark Study of 26,000 consumers' behavior toward healthcare online. Forrester Research is a leading emerging-technology research firm, analyzing technology change and its impact on business, consumers, and society. Established in 1983, Forrester is headquartered in Cambridge, Mass., with North American Research Centers in San Francisco, Calif., and Toronto, Canada.