Purpose – This study examines the impact of digital innovation on hospital performance, providing evidence to guide healthcare administrators and policymakers in making informed decisions regarding digital investment. Design/Methodology/Approach – Using data from the 2020 American Hospital Association (AHA) U.S. Hospital Survey and the 2019 AHA Information Technology Survey, we empirically analyze the relationship between five dimensions of digital innovation—automation, cybersecurity, telehealth, health information exchange (HIE), and IT spending—and three efficiency indicators: occupancy rate, capacity productivity, and manpower productivity. Findings – The results show that digital innovation has varying effects on hospital efficiency. Automation is positively associated with capacity and manpower productivity, but negatively associated with occupancy rate. Telehealth demonstrates strong positive effects across all three efficiency measures, while HIE is positively correlated with occupancy rate. IT spending is positively related to capacity productivity but negatively related to manpower productivity. No significant relationship is observed between cybersecurity and performance outcomes. Originality/Value – This study contributes to healthcare management literature by integrating multiple dimensions of digital innovation into a unified framework and by enhancing understanding of how digital strategies shape hospital operations in the post-pandemic. Research limitations/implications – Future research can assess the long-term effect of digital investment, particularly in cybersecurity, on hospital performance. Practical implications - The findings suggest that hospital administrators should prioritize investment in automation and telehealth to realize immediate operational gains, while recognizing that cybersecurity investment may yield benefits through long-term institutional reliability rather than short-term efficiency. Social implications – Insights from this study support more equitable allocation of digital resources across hospitals, particularly in rural and underserved regions. Strategic digital adoption may improve continuity of care and overall performance of the healthcare sector.
Lee et al. (Thu,) studied this question.