Assessing Digital Transformation of Cost Accounting Tools in Healthcare

Abstract

The expansion of digital technologies has significantly changed most economic activities and professions. Digital technologies penetrated managerial accounting and have a vast potential to transform this profession. Implementing emerging digital technologies, such as artificial intelligence, blockchain, the Internet of Things, big data, and cloud computing, can trigger a crucial leap forward, leading to a paradigm-shifting in healthcare organizations’ accounting management. The paper’s main objective is to investigate the perception of Romanian accountants on implementing digital technologies in healthcare organizations’ accounting management. The paper implies a study based on a questionnaire among Romanian accountants who use various digital technologies implemented in traditional and innovative cost accounting tools. Based on structural equation modeling, the results emphasize the prevalence of innovative tools over traditional cost accounting tools improved through digital transformation, digital technologies assuming the most complex and time-consuming tasks. Moreover, the influence of cost accounting tools improved through digital transformation on healthcare organizations’ performance is much more robust in the case of innovative tools than in the case of traditional cost accounting tools. The proposed model provides managers in healthcare organizations with information on the most effective methods in the context of digital transformation.