ArticleJournal of medical Internet research2022
Effects of Hospital Digitization on Clinical Outcomes and Patient Satisfaction: Nationwide Multiple Regression Analysis Across German Hospitals.
Article in Journal of medical Internet research, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- The role of information systems in emergency department decision-making-a literature review.Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association : JAMIA · 2024Pooled it
- Does System Choice Matter? Influence of Hospital Information Systems on Digital Maturity.Journal of medical systems · 2026Article
- The application of digital technology in nursing quality management: a scoping review.BMC nursing · 2026Article
- Investigating expectations and needs regarding the use of large language models at Bavarian university clinics.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Mobile Admission Process and Administrative Turnaround Time for Hospitalization of Outpatients: A Retrospective Study.Applied clinical informatics · 2025Article
- General Hospitals with High-Tech Medical Equipment and Patient Experience.Journal of patient experience · 2025Article
- National Patient Satisfaction Survey as a Predictor for Quality of Care and Quality Improvement - Experience and Practice.Patient preference and adherence · 2025Article
- The Effect of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Digital Health-Seeking Behavior: Big Data Interrupted Time-Series Analysis of Google Trends.Journal of medical Internet research · 2023Article
- Reconfiguring Care Practices Through Technology-Supported Services: Pathways to Outpatient Satisfaction in Urban and Rural Public Hospitals.Inquiry : a journal of medical care organization, provision and financingArticle
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe adoption of health information technology (HIT) by health care providers is commonly believed to improve the quality of care. Policy makers in the United States and Germany follow this logic and deploy nationwide HIT adoption programs to fund hospital investments in digital technologies. However, scientific evidence for the beneficial effects of HIT on care quality at a national level remains mostly US based, is focused on electronic health records (EHRs), and rarely accounts for the quality of digitization from a hospital user perspective.
objectiveThis study aimed to examine the effects of digitization on clinical outcomes and patient experience in German hospitals. Hence, this study adds to the small stream of literature in this field outside the United States. It goes beyond assessing the effects of mere HIT adoption and also considers user-perceived HIT value. In addition, the impact of a variety of technologies beyond EHRs was examined.
methodsMultiple linear regression models were estimated using emergency care outcomes, elective care outcomes, and patient satisfaction as dependent variables. The adoption and user-perceived value of HIT represented key independent variables, and case volume, hospital size, ownership status, and teaching status were included as controls. Care outcomes were captured via risk-adjusted, observed-to-expected outcome ratios for patients who had stroke, myocardial infarction, or hip replacement. The German Patient Experience Questionnaire of Weisse Liste provided information on patient satisfaction. Information on the adoption and user-perceived value of 10 subdomains of HIT and EHRs was derived from the German 2020 Healthcare IT Report.
resultsStatistical analysis was based on an overall sample of 383 German hospitals. The analyzed data set suggested no significant effect of HIT or EHR adoption on clinical outcomes or patient satisfaction. However, a higher user-perceived value or quality of the installed tools did improve outcomes. Emergency care outcomes benefited from user-friendly overall digitization (β=-.032; P=.04), which was especially driven by the user-friendliness of admission HIT (β=-.023; P=.07). Elective care outcomes were positively impacted by user-friendly EHR installations (β=-.138; P=.008). Similarly, the results suggested user-friendly, overall digitization to have a moderate positive effect on patient satisfaction (β=-.009; P=.01).
conclusionsThe results of this study suggest that hospital digitization is not an end in itself. Policy makers and hospitals are well advised to not only focus on the mere adoption of digital technologies but also continuously work toward digitization that is perceived as valuable by physicians and nurses who rely on it every day. Furthermore, hospital digitization strategies should consider that the assumed benefits of single technologies are not realized across all care domains.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.