What Is Digital Health?

Let’s Do Digital

What Is Digital Health?

  • The use of technology to manage the health and social care of patients.
  • Eg. online medical records, video doctor visits, and health apps on phones.
  • We will look at what digital health is, why it matters, and how it affects patients and those working in healthcare.

Overview

  • In this video, we will cover the basics of digital health.
  • Following this, we will have a quiz to test your knowledge.
  • You will also get a certificate for completing the module.

We Will Cover

  1. What do we mean by “digital” and “health”?
  2. How has healthcare changed with technology?
  3. What are the main digital tools used in healthcare?
  4. What are the benefits and challenges of digital health?
  5. How can you learn more about digital health?

What Is Digital?

  • Anything that uses computers, the internet, or smart devices.
  • Examples: Emails, apps, websites, mobile phones.

Mobile Phones Everywhere

58% of the world’s population have mobile phones connected to the internet

What Is Health?

  • Everything related to keeping people well or treating them when they are sick.
  • Examples: Hospitals, doctors, medicines, exercise.

How Do Digital and Health Overlap?

  • Digital health is where we use digital tools to help with health.
  • Examples:
    • Booking a doctor’s appointment online.
    • Using an app to track your heart rate.
    • A hospital storing patient records on a computer instead of paper.

How Do Digital and Health Overlap?

Big Business

Worth $288.55 billion in 2024

How Has Healthcare Changed With Technology?

The Old Way

  • Doctors wrote notes on paper.
  • Results and correspondence were sent by post.
  • If you needed medical advice, you had to visit a clinic in person.
  • There were no mobile apps or online health services.

Paper Records in 2001

Only 18% of U.S. doctors used electronic records in 2001

Early Digital Changes (1980s - 2000s)

  • Most early digital health developments in the UK started in GP practices.
  • GP systems were some of the first to adopt electronic records, replacing paper files.
  • Early prescription systems allowed doctors to send prescriptions to pharmacies digitally.
  • Hospitals started using computers for administrative tasks, but most patient records were still on paper.
  • Early telemedicine experiments allowed doctors to give advice over the phone.

The Digital Health Boom (2010s - Now)

  • Smartphones & Apps: Patients started using apps for tracking health, fitness, and medications.
  • Electronic Health Records (EHRs): Hospitals and clinics moved to digital records that could be shared across healthcare providers.
  • Telemedicine Growth: Video calls with doctors became more common, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Telehealth Surge in 2020

U.S. telehealth usage jumped 154% in early 2020 due to COVID-19

The Digital Health Boom (2010s - Now)

  • Wearable Devices: Smartwatches and fitness trackers allowed people to monitor their health in real-time.
  • Artificial Intelligence (AI): AI is showing promise to help doctors analyse scans and predict illnesses more accurately.
  • Big Data in Healthcare: Large amounts of health data has helped scientists understand diseases better.

Wearables in Action

In 2024, 30 million U.S. patients used remote monitoring tools like smartwatches

The Potential Future of Digital Health

  • More personalised care using AI and health data.
  • Faster diagnosis and treatment through automation.
  • More remote monitoring and home-based healthcare.
  • Better integration between digital systems to make healthcare more efficient.

What Are the Main Digital Tools in Healthcare?

1. Electronic Patient Records (EPRs)

  • Also called Electronic Health Records (EHRs).
  • A computer version of a patient’s medical history.
  • Tries to condense all the required data and functionality into one system.

EPRs Worldwide

In 2019, 100% of UK GP practices used EPRs, compared to 71% in Switzerland

2. Telemedicine (Seeing a Doctor Online)

  • Talking to a doctor using a video call instead of going to a clinic.
  • Useful for people who live far away or cannot travel easily.

3. Health Apps

  • Apps that help track steps, diet, sleep, or medical conditions.
  • Examples: A diabetes app that reminds people to check their blood sugar.

Health App Boom

Health app downloads surged 50% globally during the COVID-19 pandemic

4. Wearable Devices

  • Smartwatches and fitness trackers that measure heart rate, sleep, and activity.
  • Some devices can alert doctors if something is wrong.

5. Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Healthcare

  • AI can help doctors read X-rays or predict health problems.
  • Some chatbots give basic health advice based on symptoms.
  • But: Not yet accurate or safe enough for routine use—lots of hype still unproven.

AI Enhances Early Detection of Lung Cancer

AI assistance improved clinicians’ ability to detect lung cancer by 17.4%
Dissez G, Tay N, Dyer T, et al., “Enhancing Early Lung Cancer Detection on Chest Radiographs with AI-assistance: A Multi-Reader Study”, 2022, https://arxiv.org/abs/2208.14742

But At the Same Time

Large language models did not improve physician performance in diagnostic reasoning tasks
Goh E, Gallo R, Hom J, et al. Large Language Model Influence on Diagnostic Reasoning: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Netw Open. 2024;7(10)

6. Cybersecurity and Data Privacy

  • Protecting patient information so that only the right people can see it.
  • Important for keeping medical records safe.

Benefits and Challenges of Digital Health

Benefits

  • Faster and more accessible: Patients can get advice without leaving home. Routine tasks can be automated.
  • More Information: Apps and wearables help people understand their health.
  • Better Care: Doctors can access patient records quickly.

Health Info Online

In 2020, 63% of UK adults used the internet for health info

Challenges

  • Internet access: Some people may struggle to use digital tools.
  • Privacy: Keeping personal health data safe is important.
  • New technology: Patients and doctors need to learn how to use digital health tools properly.
  • Deliverables: Many digital health systems fall short of expectations.

Complex ecosystem

Over 80% of digital health startups fail

Why this statistic?

  • Regulation
  • Standards
  • Reimbursement
  • Stakeholder take up of new technology
  • Poor outcomes in real life settings

How Can You Learn More About Digital Health?

Where to Start?

Final Thoughts

  • Digital health is changing how we access and receive care.
  • There are many opportunities to learn and get involved.
  • As a complex ecosystem, creating and implementing digital solutions can be tricky.
  • Education and training are key to understanding, buying and making digital health work for everyone.

Quiz Time!

  • We will now test your knowledge with a quiz.
  • Good luck!