The Impact of Health Information Technology on Hospital Productivity in Saudi Arabia " A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis"

Background: Although Saudi Vision 2030 and the Health Sector Transformation Program have made huge investments in health information technology (HIT), there was no unified evidence on the effectiveness of HIT to improve hospital productivity in the Saudi context.

Purpose: This study will be a systematic review and meta-analysis of the effects of HIT implementation on hospital productivity indicators in Saudi Arabia between 2018 and 2025.

Methods: In accordance with PRISMA 2020 criteria, we have used PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science and regional databases. The inclusion criteria included Saudi quantitative studies of hospitals that reported efficiency, length of stay (LOS), throughput or financial performance following HIT exposure. The meta-analysis used was random-effects meta-analysis; subgroup analyses and meta-regression were conducted to evaluate the effects of hospital type and HIT maturity.

Findings: A total of 21 studies (428 unique hospitals and 1.8 million discharges) were included; 12 of them were included in the meta-analysis. Mature implementation of HIT was related to 18.4 percent increased technical efficiency (SMD 0.62, 95% CI 0.41-0.83; p<0.001; 9 studies). 0.91-day decrease in the average LOS (WMD -.91 days, 95% CI -1.27 to -.55; p=.000; 10 studies) 28.6% higher bed turnover rate (7 studies) 9.7% reduction in the operational cost per case and 12.4% hike in the revenue per bed (6 studies) The effects were significantly greater in public tertiary hospitals and in those that had attained Stage 67 digital maturity (p=.000 Between-study heterogeneity was attributed to 64 percent to HIT maturity.

Conclusion: State-of-the-art, multifaceted HIT demonstrates a significant level of correlation with significant productivity improvements in Saudi hospitals, most significant of which are found in large-volume tertiary hospitals. Smaller gains are realised in the private and secondary facilities, most of which lack maturity and fragmented systems. These results offer the initial solid arguments supporting a reason to invest further in digital health at national levels and the implementation of performance-based funding based on the milestones of digital maturity in the context of Vision 2030.