Page 175 - Introduction to Electronic Commerce and Social Commerce

156 5 Innovative EC Systems: From E-Government to E-Learning, Knowledge Management, E-Health, and C2C Commerce

Robotics in E-Commerce Here we cover only few representative areas that directly
relate to e-commerce.
Robots play an increased role in e-commerce. Perhaps the most
well known are Amazon.com’s applications in their warehouses
(see Chapter 11). Robots are also used extensively in make-to- Electronic Medical Record Systems (EMR)
order manufacturing, which enable mass customization (Chapter
11). For an application at Lowe’s, see King (2014). Robots act One of the earliest applications of e-health was the electronic
as avatars providing guidance and information online, as well medical record system. The objective was to enable accessi-
as in the physical worlds (e.g., in airports or other public bility to patient medical records from any location, even
places). In some cases, robots are autonomous; they can even from other cities and countries. With the spread of the Web,
drive cars. In other cases, robots work hand-in-hand with this application is growing rapidly. For example, one of the
humans. For many 2015 applications, see Demaitre (2015). authors can see the results of all his blood tests and certain
medical records from any place at anytime, on the Web. In
some progressive hospitals, a doctor can pull the medical
SECTION 5.3 REVIEW QUESTIONS records whenever he or she needs to see them. One problem
is the protection of privacy and assuring the appropriate use
1. Define knowledge management. of data. In addition, there is an issue of accessibility to the
2. Discuss the relationship between KM and EC. medical records of patients by researchers.
3. Describe online advisory services.
4. Describe expert location systems and their benefits.
5. Relate social networks to providing advice. Doctors’ System

Today doctors have immediate access to patient records.
They can place orders directly to testing facilities (both inter-
5.4 E-HEALTH nal and external). They can order medications directly from
pharmacies, contact specialists, discharge patients in remote
One of the major application areas of e-commerce is e-health. locations, and review results of tests from faraway locations.
For many additional applications and for comprehensive
coverage, see Wachter (2015).
Definition

The term has many definitions (Wikipedia reports about 51 Patients Services
of them). The World Health Organization (WHO) defines
e-health as follows: Large numbers of patients’ services are available today due
“E-health is the transfer of health resources and health to advances in electronic medical record applications.
care by electronic means. It encompasses three main areas: Scheduling appointments from home and reading results of
tests from anywhere and anytime are common. Patients
• The delivery of health information, for health profes- enjoy better care due to the availability of Wi-Fi networks
sionals and health consumers, through the Internet and (see closing case in this chapter) that enable fast access to
telecommunications. information by providers. For use of robots, see Editors
• Using the power of IT and e-commerce to improve public (2015). Patients can find a vast amount of information on
health services, (e.g., through the education and training hundreds of websites such as WebMD.com. They enjoy the
of health workers). advancements in medicine due to computerized systems. For
• The use of e-commerce and e-business practices in health comprehensive coverage, see Combs et al. (2016).
systems management.”

The major concern of WHO (who.int/trade/glossary/ Social Media and Commerce
story021/en) is the efficient use of health resources for pro-
viding better and safer health care worldwide. E-health is an The health care industry was a lagger in adopting social
extremely broad field (see en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ehealth). media and social commerce. However, as reported by Lawson
E-health is completely changing health care (see Elton and (2015) and Mayo Clinic Center for Social Media (2012), this
O’Riordan 2016). For use of artificial intelligence in e-health, situation is changing. The health care participants are becom-
see Estopace (2016). ing actively engaged with one another. Patients report their