Healthcare digitalisation and sustainable system performance using moderated mediation and importance performance analysis

This paper examines how healthcare digitalisation affects healthcare systems’ performance in balancing operational efficiency and quality of care, as well as the moderating effect of managerial capability. The paper also assesses the strategic significance and deliverables of the dimensions of digital healthcare using Importance-Performance Map Analysis (IPMA) and aligns the results with the objectives of sustainable healthcare development. The sample comprised 327 healthcare professionals employed in hospitals in Southern India, both public and private. Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) was used to analyse the proposed moderated mediation framework using variance-based estimation. Also, out-of-sample predictive relevance was evaluated using the PLS-predict method. The findings show that healthcare digitalisation has a profound positive impact on operational efficiency and the quality of care, but it has no direct effect on the performance of the healthcare system. Quality of care is a significant mediator, whereas operational efficiency shows no significant mediation. The relationship between the quality of care and performance is enhanced by managerial capability. The IPMA report’s findings highlight electronic health records, data analytics, and the quality of clinical services as important performance indicators. This paper will develop a moderated mediation model that integrates organisational processes, managerial capability, and predictive analytics to explain healthcare performance outcomes. The results can be applied to SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being) by improving the quality of care, SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure) by transforming healthcare digitally, and SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities) by making healthcare delivery more accessible and inclusive. The paper offers useful ideas for creating sustainable and robust healthcare systems.