L'analisi economica delle relazioni tra ICT e organizzazioni sanitarie

Starting from the neo-institutional theoretical approach, this article analyses the effects of the growing ICT investments on the boundaries of economic organizations, with particular reference to the dimension of vertical integration. The analysis of the impact of ICT on health organizations reveals very different effects than the shortening of vertical links between various stages of production that is typically observed in other industries. Indeed, the growing trend of health systems to strengthen the institutional and managerial tools to integrate their heterogeneous activities and services in order to provide a more effective support to the prevention, maintenance and recovery of the highest attainable standard of health, enhances the comparative advantages arising from an integrated management of information flows, which further strengthens the advantages of vertically integrated organizational solutions. [Publisher's Text].