Digital Maturity of Hospitals in Practice: A Qualitative Design-Approach

Digitalization of hospitals is advancing slowly. Progress in practice is seldom structurally measured and supported. Available approaches to model maturity regarding digitalization are highly specialized, neglect transformational properties and lack utilizable value for the end user. In order to develop a practically applicable maturity measurement approach the authors incorporate needs and feedback from the field. This leads to a combination of quantifiable and quality aspects of characteristics associated with digitalization status. Furthermore, practice requires the assessment to be able to be adapted to individual needs. The approach presented comprises three assessing tools, which are eventually integrated into one assessment. The defined maturity scale leaves room for incorporating future technical developments. In an iterative building and review cycle, the presented measurement approach was found suitable and reasonable by experts from the sector. Practical application of the MM approach in the future will contribute to describing causalities in the expert organization ""hospital"".