What Is Digital Health and What Do I Need to Know About It?

Abstract

Digital health technologies improve outcomes within many health care fields. They include telemedicine and telehealth, remote patient monitoring, mobile health applications, data analytics, and social networking. Patients, providers, and insurers benefit from digital health, with time and cost savings as well as access to aggregate data, used to predict disease and outcomes and allowing tailored solutions. Some essentials of digital health implementation include champion providers, patients in need, technology, peer support system, understanding laws and regulations, seed funding, and sustainability. Successful programs can and will be established, leading health care into a more value-based future largely focused on direct-to-consumer care.

Keywords: Data analytics; Digital health; Obstetrics and gynecology; Remote patient monitoring; Social media; Telehealth; Telemedicine; mHealth.