AUTHOR=Gu Wenjun , Shu Luchengchen , Chen Wanning , Wang Jinhua , Wu Dingfeng , Ai Zisheng , Li Jiyu 

TITLE=Evaluation of Chinese healthcare organizations' innovative performance in the digital health era

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Public Health

VOLUME=Volume 11 - 2023

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/public-health/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2023.1141757

DOI=10.3389/fpubh.2023.1141757

ISSN=2296-2565

ABSTRACT=Background: Driven by the background of the digital health era, scientific research and technological (Sci-tech) innovation in the medical field are becoming more and more closely integrated. However, scholars shed little light on Sci-tech relevance to evaluate the innovation performance of healthcare organizations, a distinctive feature of healthcare organizations innovation in the digital health era.
Results A total of sixteen indicators were involved, four of which represented the Sci-tech including the number of articles matched per patent (NAMP), the number of patents matched per articles (NPMA), the proportion of highly-matched patents (HMP), and the proportion of highly-matched articles (HMA). And indicators of HMP (r = 0.52, P = 2.40×10-12), NAMP (r = 0.52, P = 2.54×10-12) and NPMA (r = 0.51, P =  5.53×10-12), showed a strong positive correlation with hospital innovation performance score. The evaluation model in this study was different from other Chinese existing hospital ranking systems. Regional Innovation Performance Index (RIP) of healthcare organizations, is highly correlated with per capital disposable income (r = 0.58) and regional GDP (r = 0.60). There was a positive correlation between digital health innovation performance scores and overall hospital innovation performance scores (r = 0.20). In addition, the hospitals' digital health innovation performance affected the hospital's overall innovation score with the mediation of Sci-tech relevance indicators (NPMA and HMA). The hospitals' digital health innovation performance score showed significant correlation with the number of healthcare workers (r = 0.44).
Conclusion This study constructed an assessment model with four invented indicators focusing on Sci-tech relevance to provide a novel tool for researchers to evaluate the innovation performance of healthcare organizations in the digital health era. The promotion of scientific and technological innovation policies could be carried out in advanced in areas with better economic development. The innovations in the digital health field by healthcare workers enhance the Sci-tech relevance in hospitals and boost their innovation performance. The development of digital health in hospitals depends on the input of medical personnel.