ABSTRACT
The use of the internet as a disrupter of traditional businesses further evolved when digital platforms began leveraging it as an infrastructure and coordination mechanism. The fundamental requirements of disruption via digital platforms are to leverage advanced technologies with disruptive workflows, and a redefined scope, to alter the value structure while extending market share. Digital platforms focus on increasing demand through improved value for platform participants – producers and consumers. They operate under demand economies of scale, a term used by two experts largely responsible for popularizing the concept of network effects, Hal Varian, Chief Economist of Google, and UC Berkeley Haas Business School Professor Carl Shapiro. The assumption for designing digital platforms is that consumers will pay for platform-related products and services. Most payments for healthcare services and products are invoiced to public and private payers. Businesses participate on platforms to buy and sell supply chain services, electronic data interchange, electronic fund transfer, software, hardware, and services.
