INTRODUCTION
There is no doubt that e-commerce has been the most important business development over the recent years. It has been a common practice for any business to gradually switch into options that incorporate the Internet in some form or fashion. The Internet has become the new and highly efficient way of accessing, organizing, and sharing information. Among many, Hoffman (2000) described the Internet as “the most important innovation since the development of the printing press” which may “radically transform not just the way individuals go about conducting their business with each other, but also the very essence of what it means to be a human being in society.”In the last five years, the number of Internet users has increased more than nineteen fold–over 100 mil- lion (Vijayaraman and Bhatia, 2002). It is obvious that the Internet use is gaining acceptance by more and more businesses as a viable productivity and marketing tool (Miller and Wood, 2002).
Considering the fact that it had taken along time to explore the role of marketing in healthcare, one could doubt if healthcare marketing would ever include practices on the Internet. Apparently, one can no longer doubt. The growing use of the Internet in healthcare marketing rein- forces the popularity of this business practice. While patients always seek to eliminate the stress associated with their doctor visits, physicians and their personnel hope to minimize the paperwork and hassles associated with various issues such as referrals, payments, insurance reimbursements, etc. Accordingly today, we see so many practices in so many forms such as telemedicine, Web-based treatments, interactive on-line medical consultations, e-hospitals, e-health, etc. It is reported that there is a 247 percent growth in the number of hospitals using the Internet for marketing over the last five years (Fell and Shepherd 2001). All these suggest that now is the time for e-commerce in healthcare marketing.