Review of Managerial Science - Call for Papers: Special Issue on "Digitalization and Healthcare Management: Managing Change, Enhancing Performance, and Reducing Inequalities"

Healthcare management should be addressed from various perspectives, as it has the potential to impact both social and economic conditions, of individuals and at the level of societies. Looking at the contemporary landscape, this need seems to be particularly relevant in the context of digitalization. The innovations related to digital technologies are disrupting the way in which healthcare organizations are being managed, and in which they deliver their services (Agarwal et al., 2010; Brynjolfsson and McAfee, 2017; Kraus et al. 2021). However, digitalization and its application in healthcare management deserves more attention and it presents itself as an opportunity: to bring healthcare management closer to the context of rapid technological revolution from a theoretical perspective.  

This special issue seeks contributions on healthcare management and digitalization, and encourages empirical studies and literature reviews, both testing existing theories and developing new ones, providing insights for research and practice. By supporting this stream of research, we aim to contribute to resilient and inclusive healthcare organizations and their respective territories. Understanding how healthcare organizations can not only implement digital solutions, but also innovate for digitalization within their own settings, is crucial for sustainable management of healthcare organizations.

BACKGROUND

Digitalization is reshaping healthcare management practices. Artificial intelligence, telemedicine, or electronic health records are just some of the digital tools disrupting the way healthcare services are managed (Chang et al., 2023). Previous literature found that benefits of digitalization in healthcare are related to healthcare organizations’ geographical contexts: cost efficiency (Elhoseny et al., 2018; Wang et al., 2018; Amato et al., 2019; Onasanya and Elshakankiri, 2021), better patient care delivery (Aceto et al., 2018; Ali et al., 2018; Wang et al., 2018; Pace et al., 2019), improving resilience and preparedness (Kanungo and Gupta, 2021; Kokshagina, 2021; Vainieri et al., 2024), are some of the benefits identified.  But the benefits are also related to the healthcare organizations’ internal processes: support for the healthcare workers’ professional development (e.g. Guha and Kumar, 2018; Qi et al., 2018; Pan et al., 2018), support for better management of financial access, better and data-driven decision-making. Previous research also discussed the risks of the healthcare management and digitalization process, some among many being the security, information, infrastructure and implementation costs, including the institutional barriers (Ali et al., 2018; Pace et al., 2019; Raimo et al., 2023). Another major factor is the slow technology adoption in the healthcare sector, despite the advances in big data, analytics, telemedicine (Reddy and Sharma, 2016).

Despite the growing interest in digitalization in healthcare management, there are still research gaps that are yet to be addressed. While studies have focused on the benefits and risks of digitalization, such as the ones discussed above, this literature can be updated with new avenues for research, which is the aim of this special issue.

THEMES OF THE SPECIAL ISSUE

This special issue aims to open for new avenues for research in relation to healthcare management and digitalization. Here we present some of the themes that could add to our understanding so far:

First, there is limited research on the contextual factors that influence digital transformation in healthcare organizations and their respective environments, particularly in advanced economies (Tortorella et al., 2020). Future studies should explore how organizational contextual factors, such as for example, healthcare organization size, organizational dynamics, institutional arrangements and governance, impact the adoption and implementation of digital solutions (Raimo et al., 2023). Regional contextual factors are also of importance when discussing healthcare management and digitalization: we need a better understanding of the challenges, for example institutional ones, related to digital innovation, development and adoption in healthcare organizations (Vainieri et al., 2024). An important aspect here to consider is the relation of healthcare management and digitalization processes to innovation ecosystems within which these organizations are embedded. For example, examining whether and how certain ecosystems, e.g., environments composed out of specialized healthcare organizations, startups, academic institutions, and policymakers, facilitate the development, testing, and scaling of innovative digital technologies that are adopted by the same healthcare organizations- these topics are underexplored in current research.

Second, future research should answer under which conditions digital health technologies can be effectively not only integrated into healthcare settings but also sustained over time. Digital solutions often need to be updated or scaled to be sustained over time, and there remains a need to study how these processes unfold and connect institutional arrangements of the healthcare organizations, which are normally characterized by strong and hierarchical institutional dynamics.  

Third, less is known about how digitalization affects healthcare management from the point of view of their performance: organizational resilience and preparedness, are some aspects of relevance here. Other aspects are related to managing the risks posed by the digitalization: in particular research that tackles, legal, ethical but also cybersecurity risk in the healthcare management context is an important avenue for future research in terms of both, resilience and preparedness (Garcia-Perez et al., 2023; Kraus et al., 2021).  

Finally, the inequality in digitalization among healthcare organizations needs to be further investigated (Raimo et al., 2023). Research should examine the factors contributing to inequality and propose frameworks that help more inclusive digital transformation processes.

RESEARCH TOPICS AND QUESTIONS

Based on the above-introduced background, suggested topics for the Special Issue include, but are not limited to, the following. We welcome in particular quantitative and/or qualitative empirical contributions that use data at the organizational but also regional level.

3.1. Context in relation to healthcare management and digitalization

• How do organizational characteristics relate to the digitalization in healthcare organization? 
• What are the institutional challenges that healthcare organizations face in implementing digitalization? 
• How do regional contextual factors affect the digitalization of healthcare services?
• How do innovation ecosystems relate to digitalization in healthcare organizations?

3.2. Sustaining digitalization processes

• Which institutions support digital technologies’ effective integration and sustainability in healthcare organizations?

3.3. Risk management

• What are the legal and ethical risks of digitalizing healthcare organizations, particularly concerning AI-driven hospitals and AI-based organizational solutions?
• What are the cybersecurity risks associated with the digitalization in healthcare organizations, and how can they be managed?

3.4. Performance

• How does the digitalization of healthcare organizations impact their performance, including aspects such as resilience, preparedness, and operational efficiency?

3.4. Inequality, healthcare management and digitalization

• What factors contribute to inequalities in access to digitalization among healthcare organizations operating in different regions? 
• What, who and how can promote inclusive digital transformation across and within healthcare organizations?

Timeline

• Open for submissions from: September 15, 2025
• Paper submission deadline: February 15, 2026
• First-round review decision to authors: May 15, 2026 
• Revised manuscript due: July 15, 2026
• Second-round review decision to authors: September 15, 2026
• Final revised manuscript due: November 15, 2026
• Final author notification of acceptance: January 15, 2027

For inquiries or further information, please contact the guest editors of this special issue.

Eva Lövstål, Blekinge Institute of Technology, Blekinge, Sweden

Jasna Pocek, Institute of Management, Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa, Italy

Francesco Schiavone, University of Naples Parthenope, Italy

Milena Vainieri, Institute of Management, Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa, Italy

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