This multi-authored collection of short chapters discusses the impact and potential of current information technology on the delivery of healthcare and on doctor-patient relations. Unlike many such collections, this book offers a coherent and comprehensive overview of the topic. The authors are predominantly German, and many work for one of the start-up Internet companies that is a case study, but the overall book has no bias. As is often the case of English-language books written by non-native speakers, there are a number of minor but annoying typographical errors that a good editor should have caught.

The initial chapters give an overview of the problems and challenges facing healthcare systems. The introductory chapter covers the cost problem in healthcare and provides a number of differing perspectives on the causes and possible solutions. Another discusses the challenges facing European healthcare systems dealing with growing diversity in their populations. A chapter on healthcare innovation compares the organizational influences that affect systems in the US, Great Britain, and Germany, three countries with very different organizational environments. One of the most interesting chapters discusses the growth of individual access to healthcare information via new technologies, and how this may or may not alter the future.

Three chapters discuss process innovations in the hospital setting. The next four focus on teams in healthcare and how better inter-professional collaboration can improve care delivery. Then, three chapters discuss change from the patient’s perspective, covering consumerism, shared decision-making, and increased patient engagement.

Five chapters are devoted to innovation and why/how it is or is not adopted in diverse settings. Four chapters under the heading of “toolkit” discuss online provider rating systems, telemonitoring, and knowledge transfer.

The final four chapters are case studies of specific projects, three of which are in Germany: one allows patients to have their medical reports translated from medical jargon into lay terms by volunteer medical students; another is a best-of-breed online rating service of doctors and hospitals; and the third is a project to give online access to healthcare payments. The last chapter describes an innovative Italian hospital that has managed to use both physical space and resources optimally.

The book is worth reading by anyone interested in how the future of this changing environment may evolve.