Bridging the Gap - Health, Technology and Intermediaries

The demands for health care services are rising steadily. To meet these demands, the prevailing health care paradigm has been put under scrutiny. We have already passed the verge of a paradigm shift where patients are regarded cooperative partners who play an important role in their own care. In the core of this ongoing shift is technology that enables a new kind of service provisioning and digitalization of services. This has created a dilemma; how the patients who are not able (or willing) to use these new services can be reached? To answer this question, a fresh outlook on the roles related to health service provisioning is needed. This examination calls for identification of health technology intermediaries, mediators, who stand at the crossroad of health, care and technology. This exploratory work will look into the intermediary roles, outlining a set of skills and capabilities needed from a mediator.