New re­search on hos­pit­al tech­no­logy in­vest­ments: “Without skilled garden­ers, noth­ing grows”

Every year, billions of kroner are spent on digitising hospitals. But new servers, medical record systems and data platforms are rarely enough on their own. The real difference lies in how the technology is used and by whom.

This is the conclusion of a new study from CBS.

“It is not the technology but the people who drive digital transformation. Hospitals will only gain the full benefit of their digital investments when they also develop employees’ competences and the collaboration between IT and clinical staff,” says Till Winkler, guest lecturer at the Department of Digitalization at CBS and co-author of the study.

Together with Saeid Jorfi from the University of Hagen, he has analysed how the digital infrastructure of hospitals translates into real improvements in healthcare. The result is a new theoretical framework called the ‘Sustainable Digital Enablement Framework’, which aims to help management teams understand how technology and human competences interact in practice.

Technology is potential – but people create value 

The study draws on data from more than 120 hospitals and reveals a clear pattern: hospitals that invest in both technology and employees’ IT competences achieve far greater success with digital transformation than those focusing on hardware alone.

The researchers call this ‘translating IT capabilities’, which is the ability to transform technical potential into practical value. It covers three crucial areas:

•    IT human competences: IT employees who understand clinical needs and can translate them into digital solutions.

•    IT relational competences: trust and collaboration between the IT department and clinical staff.

•    IT architectural competences: a flexible technical structure that supports the goals and development of the hospital.

In practice, this means that even the most advanced technology can end up unused if there are no employees who can bridge the gap between technology and clinic.

“Without people who understand both worlds, hospitals risk being left with expensive systems that do not fit everyday life in the departments,” explains Till Winkler.

“Without skilled gardeners who can cultivate the soil, nothing grows”

One of the key points of the study is that technology itself does not create transformation. Its effect is indirect and works through the people and relationships that make the systems function.

The researchers compare it to a hospital that has acquired new, advanced infrastructure: servers, databases and networks. These systems are like fertile soil, but without skilled gardeners to cultivate it, nothing will grow.

Those ‘gardeners’ are the hospital’s IT and healthcare staff who, through professional knowledge, trust and shared goals, make the technology meaningful. 

For Till Winkler, it ultimately comes down to viewing technology as a means rather than an end.

“Digitalisation only becomes sustainable when it supports the people who use it and when the collaboration between technology and practice works,” he says.