Marketing of Virtual Healthcare Communities as Being Distance and Open Learning (DOL) Environments

E-Health And Distance Education

E-service can be defined as information giving, transactions and distribution of services in order for leveraging up the delivery and the quality of services through the help of the internet (Lankton and Wilson, 2007:85). E- health is the combination of information and limited clinical services together. E-health is spreading today due to its cost effectiveness and fastness of acquiring such services by patients. E-health is twofold. First is from the organizational perspective where healthcare service is provided. The key here is the swiftness of the servide provided; cost efficiency and wher required the applicability of individualised services. From patients’ perspective, practicality of getting information, diagnosis and effectiveness of treatment provided to them is the core of the service.

Online health channels are quite common in our daily lives, and such channels are getting spread in numbers (Berkowitz, 2006: 268). Online channels are used by many pations and many portals are providing health services to their customers. For instance, Portrer’s Health Care System web page provides a three step registration process to the site. In first two steps both patients and doctors register to the web page, and then they upload x-rays and MRI scans to the portal. At the third stage, specialist would come up with his or her diagnosis. In 2002, it is estimated that more than 5000 patients used this channnel for various purposes (Berkowitz, 2006: 269).