Driving Digital Transformation During a Pandemic: Case Study of Virtual Collaboration in a German Hospital

Nicholas R J Frick; Henriette L Möllmann; Milad Mirbabaie; Stefan Stieglitz

doi:10.2196/25183

Driving Digital Transformation During a Pandemic: Case Study of Virtual Collaboration in a German Hospital

JMIR Med Inform. 2021 Feb 1;9(2):e25183. doi: 10.2196/25183.

Authors

Nicholas R J Frick^#¹, Henriette L Möllmann^#², Milad Mirbabaie³, Stefan Stieglitz⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of IT-Strategy, MAINGAU Energie GmbH, Obertshausen, Germany.
² Department of Oral-, Maxillo- and Plastic Facial Surgery, Heinrich-Heine-University Duesseldorf, Duesseldorf, Germany.
³ Department of Business Studies and Economics, University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany.
⁴ Professional Communication in Electronic Media/Social Media, University of Duisburg-Essen, Duisburg, Germany.

^# Contributed equally.

PMID: 33449905
PMCID: PMC7857526
DOI: 10.2196/25183

Abstract

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has not only changed the private lives of millions of people but has significantly affected the collaboration of medical specialists throughout health care systems worldwide. Hospitals are making changes to their regular operations to slow the spread of SARS-CoV-2 while ensuring the treatment of emergency patients. These substantial changes affect the typical work setting of clinicians and require the implementation of organizational arrangements.

Objective: In this study, we aim to increase our understanding of how digital transformation drives virtual collaboration among clinicians in hospitals in times of crisis, such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: We present the lessons learned from an exploratory case study in which we observed the introduction of an information technology (IT) system for enhancing collaboration among clinicians in a German hospital. The results are based on 16 semistructured interviews with physicians from various departments and disciplines; the interviews were generalized to better understand and interpret the meaning of the statements.

Results: Three key lessons and recommendations explain how digital transformation ensures goal-driven collaboration among clinicians. First, we found that implementing a disruptive change requires alignment of the mindsets of the stakeholders. Second, IT-enabled collaboration presupposes behavioral rules that must be followed. Third, transforming antiquated processes demands a suitable technological infrastructure.

Conclusions: Digital transformation is being driven by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the rapid introduction of IT-enabled collaboration reveals grievances concerning the digital dissemination of medical information along the patient treatment path. To avoid being caught unprepared by future crises, digital transformation must be further driven to ensure collaboration, and the diagnostic and therapeutic process must be opened to disruptive strategies.

Keywords: COVID-19; case study; collaboration; crisis; digital health; digital transformation; health care; hospital; pandemic; virtual collaboration; virtual heath.

©Nicholas R J Frick, Henriette L Möllmann, Milad Mirbabaie, Stefan Stieglitz. Originally published in JMIR Medical Informatics (http://medinform.jmir.org), 01.02.2021.