Transition Toward Smart Hospitals: A Scoping Review of Features, Technologies, and Challenges

The increasing elderly population, growing prevalence of chronic illnesses, and rising healthcare costs are driving healthcare providers to seek more affordable and cost-effective care solutions. One promising approach is the integration of smart technologies within a hospital setting. This study aims to examine the transaction process toward smart hospitals and to explore the defining features, enabling technologies, and key challenges associated with digital and smart hospitals.

This scoping review followed the Levac, Colquhoun, and O'Brien approach. Databases including IEEE, PubMed, Web of Science, ScienceDirect, Wiley, and Scopus were searched without any time restrictions to extract relevant articles, with the final search completed on September 11, 2025. Only articles published in English were included. A qualitative synthesis method and trend analysis were applied to investigate the emergence of digital and smart hospital concepts, along with the associated technologies, features, and challenges.

A total of 64 articles were included in this study. Assessing an organization's digital maturity is crucial for transitioning to smarter operations, encompassing structure, policies, governance, culture, and technology infrastructure. Key features of digital hospitals include the process of digitalization, system interoperability, and electronic medical records (EMRs). Transitioning to smart hospitals requires advanced technologies such as mobile networks, wireless systems, data analytics, location tracking, sensors, IoT, blockchain, and AI. The main benefits identified were improved technology adoption, stronger data management and security, enhanced organizational effectiveness, and greater digital health literacy. Additionally, six major challenges were highlighted, particularly around the adoption and integration of new technologies, data management and security, organizational barriers, and gaps in digital health literacy.

Transitioning to digital processes and smart hospital operations can streamline workflows and improve clinical outcomes. However, due to the complexity and interdisciplinary nature of healthcare technology, setting digitalization strategies and making relevant policies are crucial. Successful adoption of a smart hospital system requires collaboration among healthcare providers, technology vendors, and other stakeholders.