Innovation of telehomecare service industry: A patent-based assessment

With the advancement in information and telecommunication technologies, Telehomecare can surmount obstacles in space and time and exchange clinical information between patients and experts, which fulfill the patients' needs of the aged society. Servitisation not only represents the developments of new products or technologies, but also includes the innovative activities in improving current products and services which can respond to market demands. Patent databases contain abundant information on technologies, in which the category of “business method” contains patents in innovating business models. Therefore this study examines the telehomecare service patents which embedded in business method and telehomecare device technologies. This study presents the innovation outcomes and assesses the technological gaps in telehomecare service industry. The results offer suggestions and guidelines for firms to deal with strategy planning in patent portfolio, collaborator searching and technological developments.