I NFORMATION technology has expanded to encompass
nearly every industry in the world from finance and
banking to universities and nonprofit organizations. The health
care industry, which is composed of hospitals, individual
physician practices, specialty practices, as well as managed
care providers, pharmaceutical companies, and insurance
companies, is no exception. The industry’s expanded interest
in information systems implementation has primarily been
fueled by needs for cost efficiency, increased competition, as
well as a fundamental change in the health care industry, in
which providers have changed their focus from reactive care
and treatment to preventive medicine and disease management.
This paper provides a model for health care organizations to
utilize the different information system technologies that can
be employed to streamline business processes, reduce admin-
istrative costs, make organizations more competitive, and ulti-
mately provide better care to patients. Specifically, this study
focuses on using the Internet as the backbone to connect sup-
pliers, enterprise systems, physicians, and patients to one value
added supply chain.