Digital Transformation in the Healthcare Sector: Empirical Evidences of IoHT Benefits and Limits on Chronic Disease Management

Drawing from DT and Healthcare literature, this paper analyses the impact of IoT on the healthcare sector (IoHT). Particularly it focuses on chronic diseases management, by finding main IoHT benefits and limits, specifically re- lated to such underexplored area. In order to ensure the consistency of findings, the paper relies on a pilot case study designed both on primary (interviews) and secondary (Hospitals manuals, books, procedures and guidelines) data. Results highlight that the use of IoHT is perceived to bring improvement in clinician ar- ea, patients’ quality of life and hospital cost rationalization. However, such achievements are perceived as not automatic, being related to different enabling conditions, which involve mainly technical and safety variables. From a theo- retical perspective, the paper contributes mainly to the Healthcare digital trans- formation literature, by offering new elements to foster the on­going debate about IoHT implementation, its benefits and limits. From an empirical perspec- tive, it provides healthcare practitioners with specific IoHT pilot case, cardiac- chronicity oriented, in order to effectively understand its real potentialities and threats. Moreover, the paper provides an original reading about technical and clinical aspects of IoHT through the managerial lens, necessary to organizations for the sustainability of healthcare service delivery.