The present piece of research deals with the use of Web 2.0 applications within the health care
market. When reviewing literature it became evident that up to now research which has been
conducted in this field is rather limited to single aspects of the topic. Comprehensive
research investigating the topic as a whole could not be properly identified. Within this study
first of all Web 2.0 is introduced in general including a definition its principles as well
as major supportive technologies and common applications for example blogs communities
virtual worlds and podcasts are outlined in detail. Since Web 2.0 is a rather young phenomenon
experts have not yet agreed on a common definition and scope. Therefore this part is intended
to provide a basis for common understanding about Web 2.0. The second part is dedicated to the
health care market itself. Here a definition and classification of the market is provided. In
this context it has been specified what has been included into its scope for the purpose of
this study. Moreover it is given an overview of current trends the status quo as well as an
outlook to future development with respect to influencing factors like demographic changes
medical-technological progress as well as political interventions. It is important to consider
the structure and future development of the health care market in order to properly assess the
value of Web 2.0 for this market. Afterwards Web 2.0 is introduced to the health care market
thereby setting it into the context of e-health the increasing virtualization and other
related terms like Medicine 2.0 or Patient 2.0 . Subsequently possible applications and their
value are discussed for the different stakeholder groups that have been identified as health
care consumers health care providers and health care payer. It is depicted in depth which
benefits can be obtained from the single applications. Majorly it turned out that patients may
have greatest benefits in the fields of information search and interaction with like-minded
people while health care providers may use such applications for collaboration and exchange of
professional information in the majority of cases. Health care payers might draw greatest
benefit in the field of customer-tailored marketing as well as customer interaction and
education. Afterwards the common advantages and disadvantages that are valid for all
health-related Web 2.0 applications are discussed. Here it is positively pointed to cost
reduction and revenue increase effects efficiency and quality gains as well as patient
empowerment on the one hand and negatively pointed to data quality and reliability issues data
security and protection as well as limitations to access on the other hand. The following
chapter provides an overview of the legal framework for Web 2.0 applications in health care
outlining major legal difficulties with respect to general internet-related and
health-related laws and regulations. The penultimate chapter gives an insight into the
assessment of this topic in practice. Here the results of the conducted expert interviews are
presented lighting this topic from an individual perspective. To finalize the research work a
conclusion will be given including a future outlook.
