Best of the best: an investigation of policy enactment for key drivers of digitalization

Purpose This paper aims to explore whether the key drivers identified in digitalization policies are being prioritized by practitioners in health and social care and to what degree the goals of the policies are being enacted. Design/methodology/approach The investigation comprised two stages. First, the key drivers of digitalization in the national policies were identified. Second, a survey was disseminated to practitioners within health and social care, asking them to indicate their stance on each key driver (using Likert scales). Findings The findings of this paper are twofold. First, they demonstrate that practitioners more readily enact the key drivers centered around their everyday operations, such as improving services and care and increasing efficiency. Second, it shows that key drivers of a more rhetorical nature, such as “becoming the best,” do not yield benefits for practitioners. Practical implications This paper shows that for policies to have an effect in practice and to contribute to change, they should be rooted in key drivers centered around practitioners’ everyday operations, promoting specificity over abstraction. Originality/value While previous studies have involved policy analysis, few studies investigate the enactment of policies, how they are implemented and whether they contribute to changes in practice.