“From 2020 to 2027, the worldwide digital health business will increase at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 27.9%, reaching $833.44 billion, according to Precedence Research.”
This growth is being spurred by an increase in the number of healthcare apps, according to the Ottawa-based market research firm.
Digital Health is a evolving right now, that provides health-related information and help. Because of advances in information and technology, medical information is now just a click away.
Wireless devices, hardware and software sensors, microprocessors and integrated circuits, the web, and social media are all crucial components of digital health applications.
Digital Health Importance
- Get useful insights on signs, symptoms, and causes of certain illnesses
- Maintain your health records and monitor them through mobile applications or medical devices
- Maintain patient records and history and acquire access whenever you’d like
- Online consultation and appointments with doctors from around the globe.
- Get life-saving advice and a guide to help you avoid overdosing in an emergency.
Benefits of digital health:
Digital health offers the ability to help individuals monitor and manage chronic illnesses while also preventing disease and lowering healthcare expenses. It can also personalize medicine for each patient.
Advances in digital health can also benefit healthcare professionals. By greatly boosting access to health data and allowing individuals greater influence over their health, digital tools provide healthcare providers with a comprehensive perspective of their patients’ health. As a result, efficiency has increased and medical results have improved.
According to the website of the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA), “Digital technology has been driving a revolution in health care, from mobile medical apps and software that support clinical decisions clinicians make every day to artificial intelligence and machine learning. Digital health tools have enormous potential for improving our ability to effectively identify and treat disease, as well as improving individual health care delivery.”
Furthermore, emerging technology such as cell phones, social networks, and internet applications provide patients with new opportunities to track their health and gain access to more information. According to the FDA, “Together, these breakthroughs are leading to a convergence of people, information, technology, and connectivity to improve health care and health outcomes.”
Digital health technology, according to the FDA, aid providers in reducing inefficiencies, improving access, lowering costs, improving quality, and making medication more individualized for patients. At the same time, digital health technologies make it easier for patients and consumers to monitor and track their health and wellness activities.
While innovations like virtual reality (VR) tools, wearable medical devices, telehealth, and 5G can improve patient care, AI-powered solutions can help medical practitioners optimize their workflows.
The challenges that come with Digital health:
Patients, medical professionals, technology developers, policymakers, and others are all affected by the digital transformation of healthcare. Data interoperability is a constant difficulty due to the large amounts of data collected from a range of systems that store and code data differently.
Additional obstacles include issues such as data storage, access, sharing, and ownership, as well as worries about digital literacy among patients and the ensuing unequal access to healthcare. As a result of these concerns, questions about security and privacy arise. What if, for example, companies or insurers wanted to get information from employees’ direct-to-consumer genetic testing results? What if medical equipment is hacked?
Technology and ethics are two further issues that need to be addressed. Who is accountable for mistakes made during surgery when medical robots are employed, for example: the hospital, the technology developer or manufacturer, the clinician who utilized the robot, or someone else?
Digital health encompasses an honest range of products and services. Digital devices and software are developed to diagnose diseases and there are even management and treatment apps; but it also includes clinical decision support systems, prevention and wellness, data generation through sensors and wearables, telemedicine then on.
