Artificial Intelligence and Public Healthcare Service Innovation: A Service Ecosystem Perspective

Public healthcare ecosystems are complex networks of diverse actors that are subject to pressures to innovate, also a result of technological advancements. Artificial Intelligence (AI), in particular, has the potential to transform the way hospitals, doctors, patients, government agencies, and IT providers cocreate value in a healthcare ecosystem. Adopting a ServiceDominant (S-D) logic perspective, we present part of an ongoing doctoral project that focuses on the role of shared worldview of technology in service cocreation. Using the lens of Technology Frames of Reference (TFR) theory, we investigate how different actors frame the cognitive assistant IBM Watson used in a healthcare service ecosystem in China for decision-making in the treatment of cancer patients. Drawing on preliminary findings, we present a tentative research model that links technology framing to value cocreation and to service innovation, and provide inputs for further research.