Digital health technology as an aid towards universal health coverage

The World Health Organization (WHO) has released its first guideline on the use of digital health interventions via mobile phones, tablets and computers.

The guideline has also defined some of the terms in common use today such as digital health, eHealth, mHealth.

eHealth is “the use of information and communications technology in support of health and health-related fields”. 

mHealth or mobile health is “the use of mobile wireless technologies for health”. It is a subset of eHealth.

Digital health is “the use of digital technologies for health” and is “a broad umbrella term encompassing eHealth (which includes mHealth), as well as emerging areas, such as the use of advanced computing sciences in ‘big data’, genomics and artificial intelligence”.

WHO has identified 10 ways by which digital technology can be harnessed to improve people’s health and essential services. The key recommendations include:

1.     Birth notification via mobile devices: To be used in settings where the notifications provide individual-level data to the health system and/or a civil registration and vital statistics (CRVS) system, and the health system and/or CRVS system has the capacity to respond to the notifications.

2.     Death notification via mobile devices: To be used in the context of rigorous research, in settings where the notifications provide individual-level data to the health system and/or a CRVS system, and the health system and/or CRVS system has the capacity to respond to the notifications.

3.     Stock notification and commodity management via mobile devices: To be used in settings where supply chain management systems have the capacity to respond in a timely and appropriate manner to the stock notifications.

4.     Client-to-provider telemedicine: To be used to complement, rather than replace, the delivery of health services and in settings where patient safety, privacy, traceability, accountability and security can be monitored.

5.     Provider-to-provider telemedicine: To be used in settings where patient safety, privacy, traceability, accountability and security can be monitored

6.     Targeted client communication via mobile devices: To be used for health issues regarding sexual, reproductive, maternal, newborn, and child health under the condition that potential concerns about sensitive content and data privacy can be addressed

7.     Health worker decision support via mobile devices: To be used for community and facility-based health workers in the context of tasks that are already defined within the scope of practice for the health worker.

8.     Digital tracking of clients’ health status and services combined with decision support: To be used in settings where the health system can support the implementation of these intervention components in an integrated manner; and for tasks that are already defined as within the scope of practice for the health worker.

9.     Digital tracking combined with (a) health care worker decision support and (b) targeted client communication: To be used where the health system can support the implementation of these intervention components in an integrated manner, for tasks that are already defined as within the scope of practice for the health worker; and where potential concerns about data privacy and transmitting sensitive content to clients can be addressed.

10.  Digital provision of training and educational content to health workers via mobile devices/mobile learning (mLearning): To be used to complement, rather than replace, traditional methods of delivering continued health education and post-certification training.

Dr KK Aggarwal

Padma Shri Awardee

President Elect Confederation of Medical Associations in Asia and Oceania   (CMAAO)

Group Editor-in-Chief IJCP Publications

President Heart Care Foundation of India

Past National President IMA