Business model developmentin eCare & the Ageing Society
The introduction of ICT into health and care affects a multitude of stakeholders, from service clients and patients, to providers and governance bodies. It has impacts on how people live in old age or with chronic conditions, on the way care is delivered and on how it is governed. Decision makers aiming to improve the situation of care recipients, of professional and informal carers or of entire care systems are faced with transferring one situation into another. They have to improve concepts and practice without leaving anyone behind. Understanding the different impacts on all stakeholders and applying this understanding for strategic decision making is a key prerequisite for long-term viability in such an endeavor and we use the ASSIST framework, an approach to socio-economic impact assessment, to serve this purpose.
ASSIST is a methodological framework developed to provide an objective, impartial assessment of the impact of a service (retrospective), as well as a meaningful estimation of future potential, taking into account different options (prospective). ASSIST covers a series of analytic steps beginning with an analysis of the stakeholder affected by a service and of the expected impacts to be measured. Quantitative or quantifiable data is collected by various means including surveys (such as our eCCIS – eCare Client Impact Survey addressing patients/clients, informal carers and care professionals), work process and cost flow analysis, log data analysis and others. This data is analysed in a dedicated software tool, using a Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) approach. Outcomes are different sensitivity-tested economic performance measures relevant for decision making, including socio-economic return and ROI.
The outcome of an ASSIST assessment can be used for the formulation of sustainable service models, for business model and business case development and for regulatory and strategy impact assessments.
ASSIST was originally developed by empirica, but is now an open framework, with its methodological basis and software tools available under open licenses.
