IT ambidexterity and patient agility: the mediating role of digital dynamic capability

Despite a wealth of attention for information technology (IT)-enabled transformation in healthcare research, limited attention has been given to IT’s role in developing specific organizational capabilities to respond to patients’ needs and wishes adequately. This paper investigates how hospital departments can leverage the equivocal capacity to explore and exploit IT resources and practices, i.e., IT ambidexterity, to adequately sense and respond to patients’ needs and demands, i.e., patient agility. Following the dynamic capabilities view, this research develops a research model and tests it accordingly using data obtained from 107 clinical hospital departments from the Netherlands through an online survey. The model’s hypothesized relationships are tested using structural equation modeling (SEM). The outcomes demonstrate the significance of IT ambidexterity in developing a digital dynamic capability that, in turn, positively influences patient agility. The study outcomes can be used to transform clinical practice and contribute to the current IS knowledge base