The role of IT ambidexterity, digital dynamic capability and knowledge processes as enablers of patient agility: an empirical study

TL;DR

This empirical study investigates how IT ambidexterity, digital capabilities, and knowledge processes enable hospital departments to better sense and respond to patient needs, ultimately improving patient agility.

Contribution

It provides empirical evidence linking IT ambidexterity with digital capabilities, knowledge processes, and patient agility in hospital settings.

Findings

IT ambidexterity enhances digital dynamic capabilities.

IT ambidexterity improves knowledge processes.

Digital capabilities and knowledge processes increase patient agility.

Abstract

There is a limited understanding of IT's role as a crucial enabler of patient agility and the department's ability to respond to patient's needs and wishes adequately. This study's objective is to contribute to the insights of the validity of the hypothesized relationship between IT resources, practices and capabilities, and hospital departments' knowledge processes and the department's ability to adequately sense and respond to patient needs and wishes, i.e., patient agility. This study conveniently sampled data from 107 clinical hospital departments in the Netherlands and uses structural equation modeling for model assessment. IT ambidexterity positively enhances the development of a digital dynamic capability. Likewise, IT ambidexterity also positively impacts the hospital department's knowledge processes. Both digital dynamic capability and knowledge processes positively influence patient agility. IT ambidexterity promotes taking advantage of IT resources and experiments to reshape patient services and enhance patient agility.