The degree of implementation of digital practices across Scotland does not always match the degree of digitisation of the processes concerned. In several areas, the reach of digital practices now noticeably exceeds overall section scores. Within Records, Assessments and Plans, Medicines Optimisation, and Digital Channels, core digital practices have achieved a strong degree of proliferation across the workforce and service users, even as the broader capabilities within those sections continue to mature. Staff are working digitally as far as their systems allow, even within insufficiently mature domains.
The data also reveals areas where digital practices do not yet fully permeate everyday operations. The reach of Business and Clinical Intelligence falls significantly behind its general section score, indicating that while functional capabilities and readiness for intelligence tools have advanced, their widespread adoption and practical integration into daily workflows remain constrained. In core sections such as Standards, Transfers of Care, and Orders and Results Management, reach and section scores align closely, demonstrating proportional progression.
Organisations with partially rolled out technology should seek to understand the blockers for broader adoption, whether expected efficiency gains are threatened by implementation complexity, and what the real cost — financial and clinical — of duplicating processes in this way actually is.
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