Digitization in Healthcare

Civic Review· VOL 17. Special Issue, 2021, 265–279., DOI: 10.24307/psz.2021.0019

Dr. Veronika Keller PhD, associate professor, Széchenyi István University Kautz Gyula Economics Faculty, Department of Marketing and Management (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.), Leila Kis, university student, Széchenyi István University Kautz Gyula Economics Faculty (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.), Dr. Erzsébet Printz-Markó PhD, assistant professor, Széchenyi István University Kautz Gyula Economics Faculty Department of Tourism, (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).

Summary

Digital healthcare is constantly evolving, with more and more innovations emerging in the industry. This has been accelerated significantly with the emergence of the COVID-19 and the development of the pandemic situation. The relocation of healthcare to the online space, i.e. telemedicine services, has already emerged in the early 21st century, but it was undoubtedly the pandemic in 2020 that has provided new opportunities for companies in the sector to develop. The aim of our study is to explore the opinions and the knowledge of the Hungarian people about telemedicine services. Based on the results of an online survey (188 respondents), it can be said that a significant proportion of people do not know what exactly telemedicine is. The key benefits of telemedicine services are the less crowded hospitals and doctor’s offices, faster administration, and recognition of severe symptoms. The respondents considered as main disadvantages were the unclear price-to-service ratio and the collection of misunderstood information and the services offered outside public financing. The telemedicine services that most people have already used are the e-prescription, booking of personal consultation and the e-referral. Looking to the future, the majority is optimistic and expects the development of digital healthcare. Based on the results, we have identified six possible digital marketing campaigns for the telemedicine companies, taking into consideration the goals, the content, and the target audience.

Journal of Economic Literature (JEL) codes: I19, L83, O30
Keywords: telemedicine, digital healthcare, telemedicine services and opportunities