Smart hospital definition: Academic and industrial perspective

Healthcare is a social and economic challenge in many countries, exacerbated by today's increasing demand. Many studies demonstrate that hospitals that move towards smartness, and some of their processes are smart, can provide more appropriate treatments and deal with problems more flexibly. It is axiomatic that implementing smart hospitals and healthcare tools requires a clear objective. However, the concept of a smart hospital lacks a comprehensive and broadly accepted definition, leading to varied interpretations and misconceptions. Many developments touted as 'smart' merely digitize existing hospital environments without truly embracing the full potential of smart technology. Furthermore, research studies have neglected to consider industrial perspectives, which will soon cause a gap between industry and academics in this concept.

This research aims to explore the attributes of a smart hospital and use them to propose a definition for it, considering both scholarly and industrial viewpoints.

The PRISMA method is employed to select academic and practical papers providing definitions and insights into smart hospitals or healthcare. 17 studies are analyzed, and a total, 83 characteristics are identified to describe the smart hospital. These features are categorized into three primary categories: "technologies", "services", and "goals". The most important features are determined by analyzing the frequencies of these characteristics across all the studies. In the results section, these data are presented in graphical form, highlighting both academic and industrial perspectives separately, as well as a combined analysis. Furthermore, an attempt is made to uncover trends in smart hospitals from 2015 to 2023.

A comprehensive definition of the smart hospital, encompassing both academic and industrial perspectives, is proposed using the investigated characteristics. This study also presents research opportunities and discusses the existing gap between academia and industry concerning smart hospitals.