Digital Transformation in the Healthcare Sector: Empirical Evidences of IoHT Benefits and Limits on Chronic Disease Management

Abstract

Drawing from DT and healthcare literature, this chapter analyses the impact of IoT on the healthcare sector (IoHT). Particularly it focuses on chronic disease management, by finding main IoHT benefits and limits, specifically related to such underexplored area. In order to ensure the consistency of findings, the chapter relies on a pilot case study designed both on primary (interviews) and on secondary (hospital manuals, books, procedures and guidelines) data. Results highlight that the use of IoHT is perceived to bring improvement in clinician area, patients’ quality of life and hospital cost rationalisation. However, such achievements are perceived as not automatic, being related to different enabling conditions, which involve mainly technical and safety variables. From a theoretical perspective, the chapter contributes mainly to the healthcare digital transformation literature, by offering new elements to foster the ongoing debate about IoHT implementation, its benefits and limits. From an empirical perspective, it provides healthcare practitioners with specific IoHT pilot case, cardiac-chronicity oriented, in order to effectively understand its real potentialities and threats. Moreover, the chapter provides an original reading about technical and clinical aspects of IoHT through the managerial lens, necessary to organisations for the sustainability of healthcare service delivery.