Measuring the effect of Healthcare 4.0 implementation on hospitals’ performance

Abstract

In this study, we identify bundles of technologies and associated implementation barriers that could be viewed as part of Healthcare 4.0 (H4.0) and test their impact on performance improvement in a sample of hospitals. For that, we carried out a cross-sectional study with 181 leaders from hospitals in different countries that have already started H4.0 implementation. The collected data were analyzed using multivariate statistical techniques. Results indicate that H4.0 technologies could be organized into two different bundles according to their role within the hospital. Common barriers to H4.0 implementation were also empirically organized in two groups, following the sociotechnical systems theory. Bundles of H4.0 technologies presented a positive and significant effect on hospitals’ performance. As their interaction with H4.0 barriers displayed a significant effect on performance improvement, it is important to concurrently consider H4.0 technologies and barriers. Our results allow hospital managers to anticipate potential issues in H4.0 implementation, enabling more assertive efforts to improve performance and deliver high-quality and low-cost care in the fourth industrial revolution era.

Keywords:

• Healthcare 4.0
• hospital performance improvement
• technologies
• barriers

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Guilherme Luz Tortorella

Guilherme Luz Tortorella is an Associate Professor of the Department of Systems and Production Engineering of the Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Brazil. He is the Head of Research of the Productivity and Continous Improvement Lab and the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Lean Systems. He is one of the founders of the Brazilian Conference on Lean Systems and has more than 18 years with practical and academic experience with manufacturing and operations management.

Flavio S. Fogliatto

Flavio S. Fogliatto holds a Full Professor position in the IE Department of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. He received his PhD in Industrial & Systems Engineering from Rutgers University, USA. Prof. Fogliatto specializes in the research areas of Quality Engineering, Operations Research, and Healthcare Analytics. His work has been published in Chemometrics, PP&C, Computers & Industrial Engineering, International Journal of Production Research and International Journal of Production Economics, among others.

Kleber Francisco Espôsto

Kleber Francisco Espôsto is an Associate Professor in the Industrial Engineering Department at the Universidade de Sao Paulo in Sao Carlos, Brazil. He has experience in Production Engineering, with emphasis on Production Management. Acting mainly on the following themes: Performance measurement, Performance Management, Lean Production, Visual Management.

Alejandro Mac Cawley Vergara

Alejandro Mac Cawley Vergara is an Associate Professor with a joint appointment in the Industrial and Systems Engineering Department and the Agricultural Economics Department at Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile (PUC) in Santiago, Chile. His research interests focus on the application of OR techniques to natural resource-based systems and healthcare with a focus on supply chain coordination, production planning, lean production, industry 4.0, scheduling, decision support systems and reliability.

Roberto Vassolo

Roberto Vassolo is a Full Professor of the IAE Business School at the Universidad Austral, Argentina, and Visiting Professor at the Department of Industrial Engineering and Systemes at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. His main research field has been Strategic Management in High Uncertainty contexts, Strategy under the Business Cycle, Competitive Dynamics in Natural Resource Industries, and Adaptation of Organizational Routines.

Diego Tlapa Mendoza

Diego Tlapa Mendoza is an Associate Professor of Industrial Engineering at the Universidad Autónoma de Baja California in Ensenada, Mexico. His research is mainly focused on lean systems and six sigma with implementation that varies from manufacturing to service industries.

Gopalakrishnan Narayanamurthy

Gopalakrishnan Narayanamurthy is a Lecturer in the Department of Operations Management at the University of Liverpool Management School (ULMS), UK. Prior to joining ULMS, he was a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of St.Gallen, Switzerland. He completed his doctoral studies from the Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode, India. He researches in the area of healthcare operational excellence, transformative service research, satellite imagery analytics, digitization, and business model innovation.