Could Investments in Innovation Enhance Primary Care Outcomes? Insight from Italy

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, European health systems have faced significant challenges, including increased healthcare demands, workforce shortages, and the rise of non-communicable diseases. In this scenario, innovations in primary healthcare offer potential solutions to address these issues. The Italian National Recovery and Resilience Plan, under the Next Generation EU initiative, call for substantial investments aimed at revitalizing economies while enhancing healthcare digitalization and efficiency. This study examines how innovation investments affect primary care outcomes and whether citizens’ digital skills influence this relationship. The empirical analysis is based on a longitudinal dataset, drawn from multiple sources, covering the period 2019-2021. It combines financial data on innovation investments from the Ministry of Health, primary care indicators from AGENAS, and data on digital skills from ISTAT. The results indicate that while Research & Development and patents have limited impact on major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular event rates, their effectiveness is significantly enhanced by the digital literacy of citizens. Additionally, digital skills contribute to reducing Emergency Department Access and hospitalization rates, with patents having a stronger influence than Research & Development. These findings offer useful insights for policy makers aiming to ensure effective healthcare delivery and equal access to medical services.