CIN and ICC treatment resulted in considerable costs to the healthcare system in Taiwan. Indirect costs associated with such treatment were also substantial and cannot be ignored.

Healthcare industries are facing an enormous flow of medical records due to the progression of information technology and the trend of digital transformation. Thus, medical information digitalization is a huge digital dataset that can be utilized to benefit healthcare systems and patients. While many studies focus on the application of the digitalized medical information in the healthcare field, only a few mentioned its resistance. The theoretical background depicts a comprehensive overview of medical information digitalization and the barriers in previous literature. This study emphasized the interaction of medical information digitalization barriers and applies the importance-resistance analysis model (IRA) to identify the resistant factors overcoming strategy. It also clarifies the pathway to eliminating the innovation resistance and reveals the interaction of medical information digitalization barriers. The acquisition, management, and application of medical information digitalization are the key foundation of medical technology innovation, digital transformation, and the application of artificial intelligence. This work can reduce the limitation of a narrow healthcare context. This study helps healthcare industries to clarify and solve barriers and realizes the innovation and application of medical information digitalization. In the long term, the results provide a basis for the future development direction of medical information digitalization and affect the medical industry.

BACKGROUND Digital technologies have been increasingly used in medical practice. The digital transformation of healthcare affects existing medical procedures and management, including data storage, diagnostic assistance, patient communication, and organizational marketing. However, how medical providers can formulate digital transformation with limited resources and invest in digital technology to achieve the best benefits remains to be clarified. OBJECTIVE The purposes of this study are as follows: 1) to clarify the stage of digital transformation in medical behavior with the orthodontic treatment process and 2) to understand the needs and desires of various stakeholders for digital transformation to assist medical providers in formulating digital transformation strategies. METHODS The author interviewed stakeholders and experts in the field of orthodontics, established an orthodontic digital transformation questionnaire based on literature review and content analysis, and obtained 88 valid questionnaires for reliability and validity analyses. Then, the Desire-Requirement Analysis model was used to evaluate the key views of stakeholders in the digital transformation. RESULTS Orthodontic procedures are classified into clinical evaluation, therapeutic communication, orthodontic treatment, and patient tracking. According to the results of the Desire-Requirement analysis model, therapeutic communication is classified as the focus strategy and is the most important stage in digital transformation. Clinical evaluation is a transformation strategy and requires policy support and governance or business transformation to adopt digital technology. Orthodontic treatment is a promotion strategy that requires enhanced marketing and the persuasion of stakeholders, taking advantage of digitalization. Finally, patient tracking is a deduction strategy, is less valued by stakeholders in digitalization transformation, and can be postponed for the conduct of digitalization until sufficient support and resource input are available. CONCLUSIONS The results of this study not only clarify stakeholders’ views on digital technology in the field of orthodontics but also help orthodontists formulate digital transformation strategies to improve patient trust and satisfaction and reduce medical disputes with the best digital transformation configuration. Although based on an orthodontic treatment paradigm, this study proposes the key indicators of digital transformation that can be applied to other areas of health care in the future. In future studies, we hope to develop strategies for digital transformation for each stakeholder on the basis of these results to promote the development of digital medicine.