Springer eBusiness in Healthcare: From eProcurement to Supply Chain Management (Health Informatics)

eProcurement in Healthcare is a book that aggregates 5 years of experience of three successive R and D projects (ELCH, GetTogether, GROPIS) covering technical and organizational issues of eProcurement. The projects, which were funded partly by the government and partly by industry and hospitals, looked at the characteristics of procurement processes and at standard technologies. Two of the projects included case studies (ELCH, GROPIS), the third project focused on the development of standard business objects for eProcurement in healthcare (GetTogether). Together they form a rich source of information worth communicating to a large audience of experts and newcomers alike. Results from the projects are supplemented by the contributions of international experts and their particular views on eProcurement, which gives the book a global perspective and hence allows its readers to learn from a variety of different approaches. Each chapter of the book is structured in a way that satisfies the needs of executives as well as academics. A management summary, tables and graphics together with key statements of experts allow the quick reader to capture the main message of each chapter, whereas background information and reference to the literature address readers who wish to gain a deeper and more comprehensive insight into the field. The management summary and the expert statements will appear in boxes separated from the main text by visual cues, e.g. background color, font size, font type.