Linking hospital human capital to healthcare quality and operational efficiency in Chinese hospitals: the mediating role of knowledge sharing

Purpose Confronted with a growing trade-off between healthcare quality and operational efficiency, hospital human capital and knowledge sharing have emerged as critical resources for addressing this challenge, yet their precise impact mechanism on hospital performance is not well understood. The purpose of this paper is to explore this trade-off by examining how hospital human capital influences healthcare quality and operational efficiency through explicit and tacit knowledge sharing. Design/methodology/approach Drawing on resource orchestration theory, this study develops and empirically tests a model of the relationships between hospital human capital, explicit and tacit knowledge sharing, healthcare quality and operational efficiency, using survey data from 343 hospitals in China. Findings The results demonstrate that (1) Hospital human capital directly improves both healthcare quality and operational efficiency, while also exerting a significant indirect influence by fostering the sharing of both explicit and tacit knowledge. (2) Hospital human capital serves as a key antecedent to both forms of knowledge sharing, including explicit and tacit knowledge sharing. (3) In mediating the relationship between human capital and performance outcomes, explicit knowledge sharing plays a stronger role than tacit knowledge sharing for both healthcare quality and operational efficiency. Originality/value This research highlights the distinct pathways through which human capital impacts dual performance metrics (quality and efficiency) via various types of knowledge sharing. It provides a theoretical foundation and practical insights for developing more nuanced human capital management and knowledge-sharing strategies in hospitals.