Using ANT to understand key issues for successful e-health solutions

Faced by a confluence of onerous challenges including escalating healthcare costs, ageing populations and the advance of technology as well as the need to provide effective and efficient healthcare services, OECD countries today are turning to e-health as the silver bullet or panacea. However, despite the initial euphoria and notwithstanding the significant investments made, to date, many of these e-health solutions have yet to prove their success. This paper presents the findings from an exploratory study that examined e-health initiatives in five countries Australia, China, Germany, UK and US to understand why these e-health solutions have not as yet delivered the promised results. A key aspect from this study was the need to have a robust and rich theory so it is possible to more fully understand all the implications, barriers and facilitators of the respective e-health solutions. Hence, the paper proffers Actor Network Theory (ANT) as such a candidate theory and illustrates how it can help to identify and support an in depth understanding of key success factors.