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FrancoAngeli Journals

Saggi

No. 135 (2025)

Digitalization Strategies and Performance in the PIAOs of Sicilian Healthcare Organizations: A Digital Content Analysis Approach

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3280/mesa2025-135oa23136
Submitted
giugno 24, 2026
Published
2026-10-01

Abstract

The objective of this study is to analyze the digitalization strategies formally declared by healthcare organizations, with particular attention to the relationship between digital technologies and the performance management cycle. The research examines how this relationship is represented within the Piani Integrati di Attività e Organizzazione (Integrated Plans of Activities and Organization, hereafter PIAO) and the extent to which digitalization is formally integrated into strategic planning and performance measurement processes. In this perspective, the connection between digitalization and performance is interpreted as a strategic-programmatic construct aimed at creating Public Value and achieving specific objectives of organizational improvement. To address this goal, a content analysis was conducted using a digital software tool with the intent of testing its effectiveness as a documentary research method for analyzing PIAO documents. This approach enabled the extraction, classification, and comparison of strategic references to digitalization and performance, while also providing a methodological reflection on the use of digital content analysis as a benchmarking tool for assessing programmatic coherence among the Sicilian Provincial Health Authorities (ASP).The findings indicate that digitalization is frequently associated with performance objectives and organizational modernization, playing a significant role in administrative innovation processes. However, substantial differences emerge in the level of
attention and integration devoted to digitalization across Sicilian health authorities, suggesting the existence of strategic and organizational asymmetries at the regional level. These insights allow for a snapshot of the current state of digital transformation in the Sicilian public healthcare system and help identify potential evolutionary trajectories toward a more coherent integration of technology and performance.

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