Digital health research
Digital health is a dynamic and rapidly progressing field. It has the potential to advance the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and to support health systems in all countries, focusing on the needs of people, health providers, managers and systems. In recent years, ‘digital health' has been used as an umbrella term encompassing both:
- eHealth (the use of information and communication technologies [ICT] for health)
- the use of advanced computing sciences in the fields of ‘big data’, genomics and artificial intelligence, for example.
The World Health Assembly Digital Health Resolution passed in May 2018 underscored “the need to ensure that digital health solutions complement and enhance existing health service delivery models, strengthen integrated, people-centred health services and contribute to improved population health, and health equity, including gender equality, and addressing the lack of evidence on the impact of digital health in these respects.”
The rapid evolution of digital health and emerging technologies often outpaces research evidence, despite expressed concerns that “failing to robustly evaluate digital health interventions presents a great risk for patients and health systems.” While digital technologies can help strengthen the health system, there is a need to assess their contributions and ensure that such investments do not inappropriately divert resources or do harm.
Improving the global capacity to conduct research and strengthen the evidence base for digital health is of high priority for WHO.