Investigating on Requirements for Business Model Representations: The Case of Information Technology in Healthcare

Business Models (BMs) are in focus of research and practice for many years. These are representations of an organisation's business activities that intercede between business processes and strategy. Typically, industries that are supported by or based on information technology are in the focus for setting up BMs as dynamic business environments require such anchor points. Business Model Representations (BMRs) are especially important for Information Systems Research. These are conceptual models that depict or represent BMs. Both for BMs and BMRs, there are no common understanding or generally accepted core concepts. Existing BMRs are quite generic and hamper the capturing of the specifics of concrete business cases. The present article structures and assesses the field of BMRs. This cannot be done without a focus on the distinct domain and its specific issues and circumstances. The focus is on Health Information Technology. This is a highly relevant field for the modernisation and the increase of the efficiency of the healthcare systems that are under pressure all in the (western) world. For this, existing BMR approaches will be assessed regarding their suitability for that domain. The revealed deficits form the basis for more suitable BMRs. This allows to assess the value of possible system elements or functionalities and to guide the development and use of respective IT solutions.