Strengthening IT Performance in Healthcare Through Digital Transformation: A Case Study

ABSTRACT Healthcare organisations are increasingly pursuing digital transformation (DT) but often struggle to achieve meaningful progress. Traditional IT operating models (ITOMs), defining how IT delivers value through structure, governance and technology, frequently lack the agility and maturity required for DT. Consultancy‐led diagnostics and intervention plans also tend to fall short during execution and often overlook structural evaluations. This practitioner paper presents a scientifically grounded, practice‐oriented approach to executing DT initiatives, based on a longitudinal case study at a leading Dutch radiotherapy clinic. In this case, the DT initiative focused on structural interventions within the ITOM, including its governance, sourcing, organisational structures and skills. The DT programme emphasised structural changes in day‐to‐day IT governance and decision‐making process within the ITOM, while digital maturity, user satisfaction and IT cost indicators were used as outcome measures embedded in governance cycles to support continuous learning and prioritisation over time. A distinctive feature of this approach is its explicit integration of human factors through co‐creation between IT and clinical leaders, multidisciplinary collaboration and adaptive governance. The methodology operationalises psychological and relational dynamics as early execution enablers rather than treating them as downstream effects of technical change. Ownership of digital initiatives gradually shifts from IT departments to care teams, while maintaining CIO accountability for coherence across the ITOM. These findings offer actionable guidance for healthcare leaders in similar contexts on how to integrate governance, ownership, capability development and measurement into day‐to‐day governance and prioritisation practices, thereby fostering a psychological shift towards engagement and shared responsibility in DT.