Assessing healthcare digitalisation in Ghana: A critical realist's approach

The drivers of the digital transformation in the healthcare industry: An empirical analysis in Italian hospitals

“…However, despite the political interventions, the path towards the digital transformation of hospitals still presents some problems. First, most digitalisation projects have not lived up to expectations ( Preko and Boateng, 2020 ). In this regard, Agarwal et al (2010) found that health care improvements related to digital transformation often fail to materialize.…”

“…In this regard, Agarwal et al (2010) found that health care improvements related to digital transformation often fail to materialize. Other authors have instead highlighted problems in the use of electronic health records ( Lorenzi et al, 2008 ; Preko and Boateng, 2020 ) related to delays, safety and costs ( Avison and Young, 2007 ; Mihailescu and Mihailescu, 2018 ). A second problem is instead connected to the different levels of digital maturity of health facilities not only between different European countries but also within individual countries ( Deloitte, 2020 ).…”

“…However, there is an important gap in the academic literature since only a limited number of studies have examined the factors capable of influencing the level of digital transformation of healthcare organizations. Furthermore, these studies focused only on emerging economies ( Tortorella et al, 2020a ) and on African countries ( Preko and Boateng, 2020 ).…”

“…Digital transformation, however, does not represent the only technical process of converting information from paper to digital formats, but also requires a socio-technical change of digital tools and the way in which they are used ( Yoo et al, 2010 ). To better understand this step, it is useful to analyse it from two different points of view ( Preko and Boateng, 2020 ). The first is linked to a substantial split in the digitalisation process from a purely technical point of view and from a socio-technical point of view in which the of digital technologies and that of the people who have to use it is defined so that their respective contributions lead to the efficiency of the process ( Sawyer and Jarrahi, 2014 ).…”

“…In the healthcare sector, the digital transformation of processes and services has become particularly relevant and popular and is gradually taking root both in local policies and in the strategic decisions of international healthcare organizations ( Bara-Slupski, 2016 ; Preko and Boateng, 2020 ; Biancone et al, 2021 ). Digital technologies have played a central role in healthcare organizations since 1990 when the term ‘e-health’ was coined ( Aceto et al, 2018 ; Tortorella et al, 2020a ).…”