@misc{9242316,
  abstract     = {{This study explores how small innovative healthtech firms become embedded
within the Swedish public healthcare system. While healthcare systems
increasingly seek digital innovations to address rising demands and resource
constraints, a gap remains in Sweden between digital innovation capabilities
and their implementation in healthcare.

The study adopts an exploratory, abductive research approach guided by
Business Network Theory and Institutional Theory, and uses a qualitative
multi-method design. The research combines semi-structured interviews
with documentary analysis to investigate how healthtech firms navigate
interactions with public healthcare actors, institutional structures, and
competing logics. The empirical context combines perspectives from both
the public and private sectors to provide a comprehensive understanding of
the Swedish public healthcare system as a market environment.

The findings show that embedding is not a linear market-entry process
but a dynamic, relational process shaped by dependencies among actors,
resources, and activities. Moreover, competing institutional logics relating
to state, market, innovation and professionalism influence opportunities and
constraints throughout the embedding process. The study identifies different
pathways through which firms establish legitimacy and access, including
collaboration with public healthcare providers, partnerships with established
suppliers, and engagement with other market actors.

The thesis contributes to research on healthtech innovation by providing
a processual understanding of how start-ups navigate complex healthcare
networks and institutional environments. It also extends business network
and institutional perspectives by illustrating how innovative firms actively
adapt to and shape the structures surrounding them.}},
  author       = {{Nilsson, Frida and Åkerström, Maja}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Becoming Part of the System: Navigating the network landscape of the public healthcare sector as a small innovative healthtech firm}},
  year         = {{2026}},
}