The 2020's have seen Digital Health become firmly established as a discipline in its own right. A key milestone was the publication by the World Health Organization of a document classifying different types of digitally based interventions (WHO, 2018). It also provided a detailed list of health challenges which could be tackled using Digital Health. Another more lengthy document a year later provided examples of digital interventions which could be used to strengthen health systems (WHO, 2019). Examples were provided for each of the different stakeholders involved. An important point was that this document emphasized that although digital technologies can enhance healthcare, they can not be used as a substitute or replacement for traditional healthcare institutions and facilities.
Elsewhere, in the US the Food and Drug Administration issued the 'Digital Health Innovation Action Plan' (US FDA, 2017) and later started a 'Digital Health Center of Excellence' (US FDA, 2023). In the UK, a review of research on how mHealth and Digital Health technologies could help in the management of health conditions was produced (NIHR, 2022), as was a plan for Digital Health and Social Care (UK Dept. of Health, 2022).In the European Union, 2018 saw the release of 'Communication in Digital Health', a document emphasizing the importance of digital change in healthcare. It contained a number of key pillars which member states needed to address, including data access and sharing, the connection and sharing of data for research and improved diagnosis and healthcare, and thirdly strengthening citizen empowerment with the use of digital services (EU, 2018). Envisaged is a single market for health data, the 'European Health Data Space' (EU, 2022).
War and warfare are often cited as spurring human ingenuity and technological progress. However, disease, and the human fight against it, can also be a powerful initiator of change. The COVID-19 pandemic showed in particular how medical necessity can drive innovation. The perceived emergency of the situation drove progress, with inventors around the world developing methods to combat the spread of the new virus.Digital Health can be said to have come of age with the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020. This acted as an accelerator for change and led to the rapid adoption of many digital techniques in healthcare settings. For example, the use of video conferencing for medical appointments became standard (Hollander and Charr, 2020; Smith et al. 2020). Patient and doctor reluctance to using such technology disappeared practically overnight (Contrerase et al. 2020). Internet searching on 'Digital Health' peaked during 2020. As well as the adoption of already existing Digital Health technologies, rapid innovation occurred and new developments occurred. For example, contact tracing apps, which allowed individual notification when someone had been in close proximity to an infected person were quickly conceived and set up. Such apps were developed in countries worldwide and helped reduce COVID-19 infections (Lewis, 2021). An additional benefit, was that they made people aware of the potential use of apps for health related purposes. In response to the pandemic the US Food and Drug Agency updated guidance on the regulation of healthcare products, in order to facilitate such digital development during this period (US FDA, 2020).
This is an extract from the book Digital Health: How modern technology is changing medicine and healthcare.
Please cite as:
Walker, MD. 2024. Digital Health: How modern technology is changing medicine and healthcare. Sicklebrook publishing, Sheffield UK.
This can be purchased from Amazon, or the rest of the chapter can be read at researchgate.