Value that matters: intellectual capital and big data to assess performance in healthcare. An empirical analysis on the European context
| Pages | 260-289 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JIC-02-2020-0067 |
| Published date | 29 July 2020 |
| Date | 29 July 2020 |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management,Knowledge management,HR & organizational behaviour,Organizational structure/dynamics,Accounting & finance,Accounting/accountancy,Behavioural accounting |
| Author | Ginevra Gravili,Francesco Manta,Concetta Lucia Cristofaro,Rocco Reina,Pierluigi Toma |
Value that matters: intellectual
capital and big data to assess
performance in healthcare.
An empirical analysis on the
European context
Ginevra Gravili
Department of Economics and Statistical Mathematics, University of Salento,
Lecce, Italy
Francesco Manta
Department of Economics and Management, University LUM Jean Monnet,
Casamassima, Italy
Concetta Lucia Cristofaro
Department of Law Economics and Sociology,
Magna Graecia University of Catanzaro, Catanzaro, Italy
Rocco Reina
Department of Law Economics and Social Sciences,
Universita Degli Studi Magna Graecia di Catanzaro, Catanzaro, Italy, and
Pierluigi Toma
Department of Economics and Statistical Mathematics, University of Salento,
Lecce, Italy
Abstract
Purpose –The aim of this paper is to analyze and measure the effects of intellectual capital (IC), i.e. human
capital (HC), relational capital (RC) and structural capital (SC), on healthcare industry organizational
performance and understandingthe role of data analytics and big data (BD) in healthcare value creation (Wang
et al., 2018). Through the assessment of determined variables specific for each component of IC, the paper
identifies the guidelines and suggests propositions for a more efficient response in terms of services provided to
citizens and, specifically, patients, as well as predicting effective strategies to improve the care management
efficiency in terms of cost reduction.
Design/methodology/approach–The study has a twofold approach: in the first part, the authors operated a
systematic review of the academic literature aiming to enquire the relationship between IC, big data analytics
(BDA) and healthcare system, which were also the descriptors employed. In the second part, the authors built
an econometric model analyzed through panel data analysis, studying the relationship between IC, namely
human, relational and structural capital indicators, and the performance of healthcare system in terms of
performance. The study has been conducted on a sample of 28 European countries, notwithstanding the
belonging to specific international or supranational bodies, between 2011 and 2016.
Findings –The paper proposes a data-driven model that presents new approach to IC assessment, extendable
to other economic sectors beyond healthcare. It shows the existence of a positive impact (turning into a
mathematicalinverse relationship) of the human, relational and structural capital on the performance indicator,
while the physical assets (i.e. the available beds in hospitals on total population) positively mediates the
relationship, turning into a negative impact of non-IC related inputs on healthcare performance. The result is
relevant in terms of managerial implications, enhancing the opportunity to highlight the crucial role of IC in the
healthcare sector.
Research limitations/implications –The relationship between IC indicators and performance could be
employed in other sectors, disseminating new approaches in academic research. Through the establishment of
a relationship between IC factors and performance, the authors implemented an approach in which healthcare
JIC
22,2
260
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
https://www.emerald.com/insight/1469-1930.htm
Received 29 February 2020
Revised 14 March 2020
31 May 2020
24 June 2020
Accepted 7 July 2020
Journal of Intellectual Capital
Vol. 22 No. 2, 2021
pp. 260-289
© Emerald Publishing Limited
1469-1930
DOI 10.1108/JIC-02-2020-0067
organizations are active participants in their economic and social value creation. This challenges the views of
knowledge sharing deeply held inside organizations by creating “new value”developed through a more
collaborative and permeated approach in terms of knowledge spillovers. A limitation is given by a fragmented
policymaking process which carries out different results in each country.
Practical implications –The analysis provides interesting implications on multiple perspectives. The
novelty of the study provides interesting implications for managers, practitioners and governmental bodies.
A more efficient healthcare system could provide better results in terms of cost minimization and reduction of
hospitalization period. Moreover, dissemination of new scientific knowledge and drivers of specialization
enhances best practices sharing in the healthcare sector. On the other hand, an improvement in preventive
medicine practices could help in reducing the overload of demand for curative treatments, on the perspective of
sharply decreasing the avoidable deaths rate and improving societal standards.
Originality/value –The authors provide a new holistic framework on the relationship between IC, BDA and
organizational performance in healthcare organizations through a systematic review approach and an
empirical panel analysis at a multinational level, which is quite a novelty regarding the healthcare. There is
little research focussed on healthcare industries’organizational performance, and, specifically, most of the
research on IC in healthcare delivered results in terms of theoretical contribution and qualitative analyzes. The
authors even contributed to analyze the healthcare industry in the light of the possible existence of synergies
and networks among countries.
Keywords Healthcare, Organizational value, Big data analytics, Intellectual capital, Knowledge sharing in
healthcare
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
The opportunity to exploit big data (BD) has raised a new and significant academic debate,
which has seen the presence of a relationship between intellectual capital (IC) and value in
various organizations, including the public sector (Allee, 2000;Cavicchi, 2017) and the health
system (Wamba et al., 2017;Pirozzi and Ferulano, 2016).
In recent years, healthcare systems have generated a huge amount of data at 5Vs –
volume, variety, velocity, veracity and value –(Wamba et al., 2015,Gandomi and Haider,
2015;Oracle, 2012;Forrester, 2012;White, 2012;Brown et al., 2011;Russom, 2011), which,
systematically and strategically, need to manage. BD “creates new value and new
opportunities for the management of integrated circuits”(Secundo et al., 2017, p. 247),
represented by a mix of intangible resources (Evans et al., 2015) and, therefore, a significant
asset in health systems. The efficient management of integrated circuits, in fact, allows you to
predict and/or estimate the data or identify the needs to be provided, supporting a wide range
of clinical decisions for the management of human health, including hospital discharge,
reduction of length of stay, surveillance of causes of death, thus increasing performance
(Wamba et al., 2017;Ferraris et al., 2018;Singh and El-Kassar, 2019).
In the literature, IC is described as a multidimensional construct, i.e. human capital (HC),
relational capital (RC) and structural capital (SC), which is capable of generating value within
the organizations in which it is created and developed, helping managers to improve the
quality of healthcare transformation (Tardieu et al., 2020;Abookire et al., 2019; Shah and
Pathak, 2014). It allows to achieve strategic objectives, improving performance and
consequently reducing healthcare costs (Wang et al., 2015). Nevertheless, there are few
research studies focussed on healthcare systems’performance and, specifically, on formal
and informal know-how (Evans, 2017).
This is a major research gap, in which this document aims to fill. By proposing a new
model, it aims to understand whether the management of IC with big data analytics (BDA) is a
useful effort for health systems, and whether it is an effective process for improving
assistance, saving lives and reduce costs.
In particular, this study focuses on two research issues: Is there a relationship between
IC, BDA and the health system? What are the effects of the IC in terms of the diffusion of
electronic services for citizens (RC indicator), the rate of beds available in hospitals and the
Intellectual
capital and big
data
261
To continue reading
Request your trial