Digital Health
Among the shifts taking place globally, is accelerated need for digital health solutions. There is no longer a question as to whether we should implement telehealth services. The prominent discussion now focuses on the speed with which we can introduce technology to help connect and provide critical information pathways to support care.
Across the global health ecosystem, physicians and clinicians are turning to patient engagement models, video consultations and integrated information. Hospitals are embracing telemonitoring solutions to stay in close contact with their patients and monitor them safely from home when possible, so as to keep them from having to enter overwhelmed hospital systems. Governments are also speeding up efforts to develop contact tracing apps and digital health solutions for quarantined citizens during the pandemic, not only for medical needs, but to help access critical information, guidance and advice.
COVID-19 has not only accelerated digital transformation, it has also unmasked areas in which there is still work to do—standards and interoperability, for example, but also cybersecurity, and, of course, cloud-based electronic health records. The latter becomes crucial when and if a healthcare system suddenly has to shift to offering most of its services remotely.
In this issue of HIMSS Insights, experts and journalists from all over the world take a look at challenges and digital solutions for a world now defined by COVID-19. This issue also feature topics relevant prior to the pandemic, including digital health technology assessments and reimbursement models for digital medical applications.