Digital health

Digital Health

Digital Health (pronunciation: /ˈdɪdʒ.ɪ.təl hɛlθ/) is a broad multidisciplinary concept that encompasses the use of technology to improve health, healthcare services, and wellness. It is an emerging field that involves the use of information and communication technologies to help address the health problems and challenges faced by patients. These technologies include both hardware and software solutions and services, including telemedicine, wearable devices, augmented reality, and health information technology.

Etymology

The term "Digital Health" is a combination of "digital", which comes from the Latin digitus meaning "finger, toe", because digits were used for counting, and "health", which comes from the Old English hǣlth, which means "being whole, sound or well". The term was coined in the early 21st century to describe the use of technology in healthcare.

Related Terms

Telemedicine: This is the use of telecommunication and information technology to provide clinical health care from a distance. It helps eliminate distance barriers and can improve access to medical services that would often not be consistently available in distant rural communities.

Health Information Technology (HIT): This is the application of information processing involving both computer hardware and software that deals with the storage, retrieval, sharing, and use of health care information, data, and knowledge for communication and decision making.

mHealth: This is an abbreviation for mobile health, a term used for the practice of medicine and public health supported by mobile devices.

E-Health: This is a relatively recent term for healthcare practice supported by electronic processes and communication.

Wearable Technology: This refers to electronic technologies or computers that are incorporated into items of clothing and accessories which can comfortably be worn on the body.

Augmented Reality (AR): This is an interactive experience of a real-world environment where the objects that reside in the real world are enhanced by computer-generated perceptual information.