Healthcare costs' reduction through the integration of Healthcare 4.0 technologies in developing economies

Abstract

This study aims at examining the effect of Healthcare 4.0 (H4.0) implementation on healthcare costs' reduction in hospitals located in developing economies. For that, 159 middle and senior leaders from hospitals located in Brazil, India, Mexico and Argentina were surveyed regarding their adoption level of H4.0 technologies and cost reduction improvements. Responses were analysed using multivariate data analysis techniques. Our findings indicate that the adoption of H4.0 technologies, empirically grouped into two different bundles (Sensing-Communication and Processing-Actuation), is positively related to healthcare costs' reduction and that the extent of such relationship may vary according to the bundle under analysis. Our results elucidate the impact of digital integration on healthcare costs, suggesting a cost-effective path based on H4.0 implementation. The identification of this relationship in hospitals located in developing economies evidences the benefits of healthcare digital transformation despite the challenging socioeconomic conditions, which has been contradictorily reported in previous studies.