An e-marketplace of healthcare and social care services: the perceived interest

Purpose – The health and social care sector is receiving growing attention due to the increased life expectancy and to the public demand for a better quality of life and better health services. New cost-efficient approaches are required, and the paper aims to present and discuss the main results of a study undertaken in a Portuguese municipality on the perceived relevance of an e-marketplace of social and healthcare services for the inhabitants in general, and for people with special needs in particular, and the identification of the most relevant services to be offered through this platform. Design/methodology/approach – A wide survey was undertaken to identify the needs of potential users and their expectancies with relation to the proposed platform. The results of the study are a support for the project promoters to understand the viability of the solution and the requirements to the deployment of the pilot experiment, as well as to drive the selection of domains of activities/classes of services to be offered by the platform. Findings – Services such as information about healthcare services, home monitoring/accompanying services 24 hours per day, and personal hygiene services provided at home are the ones recognized by the inquired citizens as the most important, which indicates that the potential users will be mostly people with special needs or their family or caregivers. Originality/value – While still at a preliminary development phase, the project represents a good opportunity to develop a totally innovative service with high potential impact for the senior population and for individuals with special needs.

An e-marketplace of healthcare and social care services: the perceived interest

The health and social care sector is receiving growing attention for the last years, due to the increased life expectancy, the public demand for a better quality of life and for better health services. These requirements can be met with more cost-efficient approaches and using new technology-based solutions for providing services. The paper presents and discusses some of the main results of a study undertaken in Guimarães, a Municipality at the North of Portugal, on the perceived relevance of an e-Marketplace of social and healthcare services for the inhabitants in general, and in particular for people with special needs; the study also included the identification of the most relevant services to be offered by this platform and allowed concluding that such an e-Marketplace is of recognized relevance and that it is expected a good adhesion from the population.

Disclosure of Intangible Assets: an Empirical Study of Financial Corporations in the Iberian Peninsula

The purpose of this paper is to analyse, firstly, to what extent intangible assets in the consolidated accounts of seven Portuguese banks and seven Spanish banks between 2006 and 2009 are disclosed and, secondly, to analyse what the most influential factors are in the above mentioned disclosure. In order to do this, before reviewing the existing literature and on the basis of other studies on this topic, a disclosure index has been created based on the requirements related to the intangible assets as stated in IAS 38. Then, two statistical analyses have been made: a univariate one for each of the explanatory variables and a multivariate one, in which all variables have been analysed. Both analyses led to the conclusion that the disclosure index of intangible assets is 0.96, where the bank dimension and the internationalization degree are the variables that are considered explanatory of the variation of the disclosure index in the regression analysis.

O reconhecimento dos heritage assets: do POCAL às NICSP

Este trabalho tem por objetivos analisar o disposto no POCAL (1999) e na NICSP nº 17 do IPSASB (2006c) quanto ao reconhecimento dos heritage assets. Do estudo efetuado, concluímos que o POCAL (1999), não apresenta os requisitos para o reconhecimento dos ativos, e mais especificamente dos heritage assets; todavia, consagra uma conta específica para o reconhecimento deste tipo de ativos. A NICSP nº 17 (IPSASB, 2006c), por sua vez, não obriga ao reconhecimento deste tipo de ativos mas refere que, se a entidade os reconhecer, deve observar os requisitos para o reconhecimento dos ativos fixos tangíveis mencionados nessa norma.

The impact of the digital divide on the perceived interest of an e-Marketplace to support healthcare and social care services

In a Europe increasingly aging, it is now recognized the importance and potential of the service industry for ageing well based on information and communication technologies (ICT), as exemplified by the electronic market of social services and health care, the GuiMarket, proposed by the authors. However, this new range of services requires that individuals have advanced digital skills to fully participate in society. Based on the results of a survey made on a sample of 315 individuals, this paper discusses the importance granted GuiMarket and the intended frequency of use, concluding there is a close relationship between ICT access and use that respondents anticipate making of GuiMarket and alike services.

O reconhecimento dos heritage assets: o caso dos municípios da sub-região Minho--Lima

Este trabalho tem por objetivos analisar o disposto no POCAL (1999), na NICSP nº 17 do IPSASB (2006c), e na opinião de diversos autores, quanto ao reconhecimento dos heritage assets; bem como, verificar se poderão existir problemas inerentes ao reconhecimento dos heritage assets, na sub-região Minho-Lima, ultrapassáveis com a adoção das NICSP em Portugal. Do estudo efetuado, concluímos que o POCAL (1999) não apresenta os requisitos para o reconhecimento dos ativos. A NICSP nº 17 (IPSASB, 2006c) refere que, se a entidade reconhecer esses elementos como ativos, deve observar os requisitos para o reconhecimento dos ativos fixos tangíveis mencionados nessa norma. Atendendo também a que alguns dos municípios portugueses sentem dificuldades no reconhecimento dos heritage assets, concluímos que adotar um novo Sistema de Normalização Contabilística aplicável à Administração Pública (SNC-AP), assente nas NICSP, poderá ser a solução para ultrapassar tais dificuldades e garantir alguma comparabilidade da informação.

Stability, sustainability and viability of the Portuguese Football Federation

Purpose: to evaluate and study the viability, stability and the ability of the Portuguese Football Federation (PFF) to generate sustained profits. Methodology: Data were collected based on the Audit Reports of the institution during 2012-2014 and a financial and economic analysis was performed in order to establish some indicators of solvability, profitability and financial balance. Findings: It exists a lack of consistency in managing the profits obtained. We can also suggest that should be given a greater interest to the management of their own intangible assets, as brand management, for example. Practical implications: By making known to leaders and managers of this type of institutions that exists a link between participation in international championships and increase of their profitability may encourage them to better managing these cash inputs in order to decrease the dependence of Governmental financing. We also found that the management of their own intangible assets, as brand management, for example, could probably add more positive financial results.