Digital Transformation in Healthcare: Current Trends and Challenges

Background: Digital health technologies have the potential to transform the healthcare delivery landscape by facilitating remote monitoring, improving disease management, and offering more personalized treatment options. The COVID-19 pandemic acted as a catalyst, driving the integration of telemedicine and telehealth solutions into mainstream healthcare practices. In general, digital health technologies offer significant potential to transform healthcare delivery; however, several challenges must be overcome for their successful implementation. Addressing these challenges will require collaboration, investment, and a comprehensive approach to ensure responsible adoption and maximize the benefits of digital health in improving patient care.
Aim: The primary objectives of this review are to discuss the evolving landscape of digital technology in healthcare and its utilization during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as to highlight the challenges associated with using digital health.
Method: The publication search was conducted using the PubMed, Web of Science, and Google Scholar databases from 2009 to 2024. The terms used for searching were “digital health technologies” or “artificial intelligence” or “machine learning” or “telemedicine” or “wearable devices” or “mobile devices” or “clinical decision support systems” or “blockchain in healthcare” or “virtual reality in healthcare” or “augmented reality in healthcare” or “challenges in digital health technologies”. We identified 7191 papers related to the digital health area. However, the number of papers discussed in the review was limited to 3414 due to the exclusion criteria.
Conclusion: This review summarizes the current state of the art in the field of digital health, encompassing various technologies such as mobile health, wearable tech, EHRs, artificial intelligence, machine learning, virtual reality, and augmented reality, as well as the challenges in the application of digital technology in health care systems.