Distinguish between digitisation and digital transformation, and provide examples of each.

The question asks to identify actions that best illustrate digitisation as opposed to broader digital transformation.

Let's define the terms:

• Digitisation: The process of converting information from an analog format (like paper) into a digital format. It's about making information accessible digitally.
• Digital Transformation: The fundamental change in how an organization operates and delivers value, often leveraging digital technologies to reimagine processes, culture, and customer experiences. It goes beyond simply converting data to digital; it involves using digital technologies to create new or modify existing business processes, culture, and customer experiences to meet changing business and market requirements.

Now let's evaluate each action:

• a. Scanning paper patient records and converting them into digital files.

  • This is a direct example of digitisation. It involves taking physical documents and converting them into a digital format.

• b. Using OCR tools to extract text from scanned medical notes.

  • OCR (Optical Character Recognition) takes digitised images (scanned notes) and converts the text within them into machine-readable text. This enhances the usability of the digitised data, making it searchable and editable. It is an advanced form of digitisation that makes the digital data more functional.

• c. Automating appointment scheduling based on historical patterns.

  • This involves using digital data (historical patterns) and technology (automation) to fundamentally change and optimize a core operational process (appointment scheduling). This is an example of digital transformation.

• d. Reducing manual filing processes to improve document security.

  • The reduction of manual filing is a direct consequence and benefit of digitisation. Once records are digitised, the need for physical filing systems decreases, leading to improved efficiency and security in managing the now-digital documents. This action is closely tied to the implementation of digitisation.

• e. Implementing predictive analytics to anticipate hospital admission surges.

  • This involves using advanced digital technologies (predictive analytics) to gain insights from data and proactively change operational planning and resource allocation. This is a clear example of digital transformation.

Based on these evaluations, actions a, b, and d are primarily focused on converting information to digital formats, enhancing the usability of that digital information, or managing the digital information more effectively. Actions c and e involve a broader re-engineering of processes or strategic capabilities, which falls under digital transformation.

Therefore, the actions that best illustrate digitisation are a, b, and d.

The final answer is $\boxed{\text{B}}$