Leveraging Digital Platforms and Leadership Inclusivity to Enhance Leadership Effectiveness and Patient Outcomes in Healthcare Organizations.

Digital platforms and inclusive leadership are pivotal in modern healthcare, influencing organizational performance and patient outcomes. Despite the growing adoption of these factors, their combined impact on leadership effectiveness and patient care remains insufficiently understood. Prior research has primarily examined digital technology or leadership inclusivity separately, lacking integrative studies that address their joint effect on healthcare outcomes. There is a need to explore how these variables interact to improve leadership and patient-related metrics. This cross-sectional study surveyed 250 participants, including healthcare leaders, professionals, and patients, using structured questionnaires. The data analysis involved multiple regression, structural equation modeling (SEM), and hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) to examine the direct and hierarchical relationships among digital platform usage, leadership inclusivity, leadership effectiveness, and patient outcomes. Leadership inclusivity showed a significant positive effect on leadership effectiveness (β = 0.16, < 0.01) and patient satisfaction (β = 0.09, < 0.05). Digital platform usage demonstrated a smaller but positive association with leadership effectiveness (β = 0.04) and patient satisfaction (β = 0.03). Leadership effectiveness was found to correlate moderately with patient safety (β = 0.23) and treatment efficacy (β = 0.25), with minimal organizational-level effects. This study uniquely integrates the adoption of digital technology with inclusive leadership, highlighting their synergistic influence on healthcare delivery. It advances the existing literature by providing quantitative evidence on how these elements interact to shape leadership and patient care outcomes.