Can the digital transformation of pharmaceutical enterprises' finance improve healthcare equity?

Abstract

Using big data, cloud computing, and blockchain technologies, enterprise finance is gradually transitioning towards digital transformation. Academia has already researched the motivations, efficiency improvements, and ethical impacts of the digital transformation of enterprises' finances. However, there is little research from the social equity perspective to explore the impact of enterprise financial digitization transformation on regional social welfare. As important entities for improving residents' health conditions, pharmaceutical enterprises have not fully studied whether their financial digitization transformation can improve the quality and efficiency of healthcare services and enhance regional healthcare equity. Therefore, this study focuses on listed Chinese pharmaceutical enterprises from 2018 to 2022, empirically examining the impact of pharmaceutical enterprises' digital transformation on regional healthcare equity. Using A Hospital in China as a case study, the process of its financial digitization transformation is deeply analyzed. The results show that the financial digitization transformation of pharmaceutical enterprises has a significant positive impact on regional healthcare equity, and it can be further enhanced by improving financial flexibility and increasing data assets. These findings contribute to accurately assessing the social responsibilities of pharmaceutical enterprises and provide new perspectives and evidence for improving regional social welfare levels.