Home> Archive> 2017> Volume 7 Number 10 ( Oct. 2017)
IJSSH 2017 Vol.7(10): 661-666 ISSN: 2010-3646
doi: 10.18178/ijssh.2017.V7.903

Risk Perception and Innovative Policy Adoption: A Case of e-Health in Estonia

Bei Jin and So Morikawa

Abstract—Nowadays, ICT (Information and Communication Technology) increasingly receive attentions as one innovative solution to realize effective medical service provision. Although the technology, commonly called “e-Health,” seems charming in view of relieving the health expenditure burden without sacrificing the well-being of citizens, many countries have showed cautious attitude toward its adoption. In contrast, Estonia had taken e-Health as national strategy to improve their healthcare problems in the early 2000s, hitherto various eHealth services such as e-Prescription and e-Ambulance are provided to support citizens, medical professionals and policymakers. Based on the argument that public perception of “risk” determines the priorities and legislative agendas of regulatory bodies, this research aims to discuss the reason why Estonia adopted eHealth into its health policy relatively smoothly compared with other countries. We suggested that some institutional and social characteristics, such as advanced ICT-ecosystem, an innovative policy friendly media environment, and a relatively abundant opportunities for talented graduates majored in health care technology to work at administrative departments are critical for Estonia to make such achievements.

Index Terms—E-health, Risk perception, ICT, Estonia.

Bei Jin is with SciREX Center, National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies, Tokyo, Japan (e-mail: jin.ut.pa@gmail.com)
So Morikawa is with Department of Civil Engineering, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan, and with SciREX Center, National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies, Tokyo, Japan (e-mail: marimolake@yahoo.co.jp).

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Cite: Bei Jin and So Morikawa, "Risk Perception and Innovative Policy Adoption: A Case of e-Health in Estonia," International Journal of Social Science and Humanity vol. 7, no. 10, pp. 661-666, 2017.

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