[Financialization, accumulation, and shareholding changes in companies and corporate groups in the Brazilian health sector]

This study aims to analyze the shareholding dimension of changes in companies and corporate groups in the Brazilian health sector from 2008 to 2017. The idea was to understand the strategies of accumulation in a context of financialization, defined as a systemic pattern of wealth in contemporary capitalism. The shareholding changes were submitted to descriptive and exploratory analysis based on different sources. We studied 58 companies from the subsectors of health plans, pharmacies, hospitals, diagnostics, pharmaceutical industry, and social organizations. Data were collected on the legal structure, ownership, and control, equity operations, and economic and patient care activities. Despite the heterogeneity of the companies and their strategies, the results point to an increase in the presence of domestic and international investors, changes in internal organization, capital, financing, and diversification of activities. The companies that stood out were actively pursuing capitalization via foreign investments, purchase and share of assets and shares, and mergers and acquisitions, accelerating the process of expansion, accumulation, and shareholding and financial appreciation. The result is an increase in capital flows and growing integration of economic and patient care structures in the Brazilian health sector with financial circuits, thereby linking peripheral intermediate companies to an expanded process of accumulation under financial dominance. The findings corroborate striking aspects of corporate dynamics in financialization that increasingly influence health systems in Brazil and the world.

Assessing E-Health adoption readiness using diffusion of innovation theory and the role mediated by each adopter's category in a Mauritian context

BACKGROUND

The preparedness of healthcare institutes for the foreseen changes expected to arise through the implementation of E-Health is a significant turning point in determining its success. This should be evaluated through the awareness and readiness of healthcare workers to adopt E-Health technology to reduce health information technology failures.

METHODS

This study investigated the relationship between the perceived attributes of innovation and E-Health adoption decisions of healthcare workers as part of a preimplementation process. Using a cross-sectional quantitative approach, the dimensions of the diffusion of innovation (DOI) theory were used to assess the E-Health readiness of 110 healthcare workers in a Mauritian specialized hospital.

RESULTS

A strong inclination towards E-Health adoption was observed, where the prime stimulators were perceived as modernization of healthcare management (84.1%, ẋ=4.19), increased work efficiency through reduction of duplication (77.6%, ẋ=4.10) and faster generation of results (71.1%, ẋ=4.07). The findings of this study also validated the use of five DOI dimensions (i.e. relative advantage, compatibility, complexity, trialability and observability) in a predictability model (F(5, 101)=17.067, p<0.001) towards E-Health adoption. A significant association between 'adopter category' and 'willingness to recommend E-Health adoption' (χ2(8)=74.89, p<0.001) endorsed the fact that physicians and nursing managers have central roles within a social ecosystem to facilitate the diffusion of technology and influence the adoption of innovation.

CONCLUSION

This is the first study of its kind in Mauritius to successfully characterize each adopter's profile and demonstrate the applicability of the DOI framework to predict the diffusion rate of E-Health platforms, while also highlighting the importance of identifying key opinion leaders who can be primed by innovators regarding the benefits of E-Health platforms, thus ensuring non-disruptive evolutionary innovation in the Mauritian healthcare sector.