How Can Technological Resources Improve the Quality of Healthcare Service? The Enabling Role of Big Data Analytics Capabilities

Abstract

The increasing adoption of digital technologies is revolutionizing healthcare professionals' activities. These technologies generate large amounts of data that can be used by big data analytics (BDA) to extract knowledge that, if properly utilized, may support the decision-making process and ultimately improve the quality of healthcare services. Although hospitals have been investing in BDA technological resources, it seems that the quality of service has not always been improved. In recent years the academic literature highlighted the relevance of BDA capabilities in improving organizations' performance, but their role in healthcare organizations seems overlooked. The purpose of this study is to empirically investigate the relationship between BDA technological resources and capabilities and the quality of healthcare services. It also aims to determine whether the presence of BDA capabilities in healthcare organizations can be the underlying mechanism that explains the effect of BDA technological resources on the quality of healthcare services. In total, 173 responses from Italian healthcare professionals were collected and investigated via the lens of resource-based view theory using the partial least square structural equation modeling methodology. The results show the pivotal role of BDA capabilities in deploying BDA technological resources to improve the quality of healthcare services and thus the need for further investment in BDA capabilities.