Information technology and strategy: The role of innovation in performance in the US Hospital Sector 1997 一 2004

Abstract

Does the early adoption and active integration of Information Technology (IT) into a broad scope of business and clinical functions 一 aggressive implementation - matter in obtaining strategic gains and competitive advantage in the us hospital sector? While the literature is divided at best, both the public and private segments of the US hospital sector have been investing heavily on the premise that IT can facilitate business transformation to solve complex issues (demands for patient- focused improvements in quality of care, improved efficiency, and long-term financial viability). Specifically, the research questions are: 1) Do the most aggressive implementers of IT exhibit greater economic efficiency than the rest-of-rest-of-the-sector? and, 3) Can we identify organizational characteristics that are associated with superior performance? The work included the development of a large (n-2700) and rich panel (1997-2004) of cases of us acute care hospitals. The thesis identifies performance differentials among strategic groups across key indicators (operational, financial, and clinical) within an integrated evaluation framework and it examines the characteristics of bundles of investment in intangible assets (governance practices and specific IT capabilities) associated with the generation of strategic value. Methods included generation and testing of stochastic production function estimates; development and testing of strategy maps; the qualitative coding and regression analysis of business intelligence texts for patterns in the tangible and intangible assets of high-performing hospitals; and a flash validation survey sent to a sample of 193 hospital ClOs. While the methodology and methods are grounded in significant works of Weill, Brynjolfsson, Kaplan and Norton, and others, both the focus on the hospital sector and the integrative approach are novel.