Digital Health Competence, Workload Management, and Healthcare Provider Performance: The Mediating Role of Work Engagement

<ns5:p>Abstract* Background Digital transformation has fundamentally changed healthcare delivery and increased the need for healthcare professionals to develop digital competencies while maintaining high levels of work performance. However, limited evidence has simultaneously examined the roles of digital health competence, workload management, and work engagement in explaining healthcare provider performance within digitally transforming tertiary healthcare organizations. This study aimed to examine the effects of digital health competence and workload management on healthcare provider performance, with work engagement as a mediating variable among healthcare providers at King Abdullah Medical City (KAMC), Saudi Arabia. Methods A quantitative cross-sectional study was conducted among 450 healthcare providers using stratified random sampling. Data were collected through validated self-administered questionnaires measuring digital health competence, workload management, work engagement, and healthcare provider performance. Structural Equation Modeling–Partial Least Squares (PLS-SEM) was used to evaluate the proposed conceptual model, including both direct and indirect relationships among the study variables. Results Digital health competence significantly influenced work engagement (β = 0.453, p < 0.001) and healthcare provider performance (β = 0.285, p < 0.001). Likewise, workload management positively affected work engagement (β = 0.445, p < 0.001) and healthcare provider performance (β = 0.289, p < 0.001). Work engagement also exerted a significant positive effect on healthcare provider performance (β = 0.375, p < 0.001) and partially mediated the relationships between digital health competence and healthcare provider performance, as well as between workload management and healthcare provider performance. Conclusions Digital health competence, effective workload management, and work engagement are represent complementary organizational resources that contribute to improved healthcare provider performance within digitally transforming healthcare organizations. Strengthening digital competencies, optimizing workload management, and promoting employee engagement may enhance workforce performance and support sustainable digital transformation in healthcare settings.</ns5:p>