HEALTHCARE TECHNOLOGY

Abstract

Digital empowerment in county-level healthcare service provision is a complex process influenced by various interrelated factors. To understand how different combinations of conditions can lead to similar outcomes, a robust theoretical framework is essential. The Technology-Organization-Environment (TOE) framework offers an appropriate analytical foundation for this analysis. As one of the many frameworks, the TOE framework is applied in research into technology adoption and diffusion of innovation, proposed by Tomatzky and Fleischer in 1990. The framework systematically analyzes the key factors that influence the digital construction of organizations from three dimensions: technology, organization and environment. Owing to its systematicity, flexibility and wide applicability, the TOE framework is widely used as an analytical tool in technology innovation and management research. This paper identifies key conditions that influence the supply of digitally empowered healthcare services at the county level across three dimensions. In the Technology dimension, we focus on digital infrastructure, technological application capabilities, and the utilization and sharing of data. In the Organization dimension, we examine government allocation of attention, demand management mechanisms, and interdepartmental coordination. Finally, in the Environment dimension, we emphasize the importance of relevant policy support, participation of social capital, and investment in fiscal resources. The framework diagram is shown in Fig. 1. This theoretical construction provides a solid foundation for the subsequent application of the sfQCA method to identify specific configuration patterns.