GoodRx Guide
What Is Digital Health?
What does the term digital health encompass?
Digital health is a term that’s grown in popularity over the past decade. It refers to the blending of technology and healthcare. Something as simple as your smartphone tracking your steps is considered a digital health tool.
Digital health is actually a broad umbrella term. As the technologies involved became more complex, two other phrases emerged to describe some of these health tools: digital medicine and digital therapeutics. These two terms are more specific subsets of digital health. They’re often used when discussing devices that can help manage or treat health conditions.
As more clinical research on these products emerges, digital health will become more mainstream. It’s likely that you have or will come into contact with digital health tools when managing your health. And just like you should know how a medication will affect you, it’s equally important to understand how a digital health product works for your health.
Because in the end, digital healthcare is healthcare.
What are some popular examples of digital health?
There are many examples of digital health services, products, and apps. Some are free and readily available. Some are available for over-the-counter purchase. And some require a prescription from your healthcare provider and may be covered by insurance plans.
Some notable examples of digital health, digital medicine, and digital therapeutics include:
Telehealth services
Medication reminder apps
Diet and exercise apps
Meditation apps
Smartwatches that track your vital signs, like heart rate
Smart insulin pens and inhalers
Continuous glucose monitors (CGMs)
Virtual reality systems used to treat chronic pain
An app that can help treat attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children
These are a small portion of all that’s available. Digital health is available and growing in many areas of healthcare. If a health tool uses modern or advanced technology, chances are high it’s a digital health item.
Is digital health the same as telehealth or e-health?
One of the more confusing aspects of digital health is the ever-changing vocabulary. Digital health is a new term, but it’s not a new idea. Using technology to enhance healthcare started to grow in the 1990s. And as things have changed, so have the words used to describe this concept.
As personal computers entered people’s homes around the turn of the 21st century, the term e-health (short for electronic health) was coined. With the rise of mobile devices like smartphones, this term changed to mHealth (short for mobile health). As more advanced devices arrive to the scene, digital health has become the preferred phrase.
Telehealth is an example of a digital health service. Telehealth refers to connecting with a healthcare professional over the phone, by video chat, or through messaging. Telehealth can be used by healthcare providers, nurses, pharmacists, and more to help manage people’s health conditions or medications.
What are digital health platforms?
There is no standard definition for the term digital health platform. Some experts say digital health platforms are the infrastructure for digital healthcare. Another way to think of it is the technology that comes together to make a digital health product.
Others will use the phrase digital health platforms to refer to how digital health is delivered to you. An example often used is telehealth services. In this instance, the platform is the telehealth company you’re using to have a video visit with your healthcare provider.
Because medical and technology expert groups haven’t agreed on a definition for this term, it can be tricky to know what it’s referring to. Throughout our digital health articles, we avoid using this phrase because it can be confusing (even to healthcare providers).
Who uses digital health?
A lot of people. Probably more than you’d expect. In fact, if you’re reading this, you’re a digital health user.
That’s right; online health information is included under the digital health umbrella. And in a 2020 survey of 4,000 people, 67% reported looking online for health answers.
In 2017, the American Medical Association (AMA) looked at digital health clinical trials registered with the National Institute of Health. This allowed them to see what areas are likely being most impacted by digital health.
In their review, the AMA found the top five areas that digital health was being studied were for:
Cardiometabolic conditions (those related to the heart or metabolism), such as high blood pressure and diabetes
Mental health conditions
General well-being and wellness — this could include things like diet, exercise, or fitness.
Neurological conditions, including migraines or nervous system problems
Lung or breathing conditions, such as asthma
Why are providers excited about the future of digital health?
There are many reasons why healthcare providers are excited about digital health. Digital health can help manage many medical conditions. This means a variety of healthcare professionals can use these tools.
Some digital health benefits for healthcare providers includes:
Allowing providers to better track health information (e.g., blood pressure, blood sugar) between appointments
Being able to make personalized changes to medications or therapies
Providing treatment options for conditions that have been historically tough to manage, such as chronic pain
Providing better healthcare access for people in rural settings or those who can’t travel to an office
Allowing people to be more involved in their health and feel empowered when making healthcare decisions
Lowering healthcare costs
Common concerns
This varies widely, depending on the product. Digital health products aren’t always required to follow privacy laws like other healthcare areas. But telehealth and digital therapeutic devices must follow HIPAA privacy regulations. FDA-regulated digital health products must also report any cybersecurity issues to the FDA.
Before using digital health products, always read about how they protect privacy. This information should be on a product’s website or an app’s description when you download it.
No. The goal of digital therapeutics is to enhance the care you receive from your healthcare provider — not replace it. A provider still needs to make sure your treatment is working. A digital therapeutic may help coordinate some changes in between your check ups. But your healthcare provider will still set your treatment goals and medication doses.
Digital health is a broad term, so the FDA is only involved in regulating certain products. If a digital health app or product focuses on general wellness, FDA clearance or approval isn’t needed. But if a digital health product claims it can treat, manage, prevent, or cure a medical condition, the product would need to be reviewed by the FDA for safety and effectiveness.
Digital health is changing the way healthcare providers practice medicine. It’s allowing them to make more personalized decisions about people’s treatments. It’s also allowing people to be more informed about and involved with their health. When a person is more engaged in their healthcare, they tend to have better health outcomes.
Digital health is here to stay. As technology expands, it’s likely that you’ll use more digital health products in the future.
References
American Diabetes Association. (2021). What is a smart insulin pen?
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2021). Patient engagement
Chen, C. E., et al. (2019). Characteristics of digital health studies registered in ClinicalTrials.gov. JAMA Internal Medicine.
Digital Medicine Society. (2021). Defining digital medicine.
Digital Therapeutics Alliance. (2021). Value of DTx - clinicians.
Digital Therapeutics Alliance. (2021). Value of DTx - patients & caregivers.
Digital Therapeutics Alliance. (2021). EndeavorRx®.
Digital Therapeutics Alliance. (2021). Understanding DTx.
Dorsey, E. R. (2021). The new platforms of health care. npj Digital Medicine.
Eysenbach, G. (2001). What is e-health? Journal of Medical Internet Research.
Health Resources and Services Administration. (2021). What is telehealth?
Meskó, B., et al. (2017). Digital health is a cultural transformation of traditional healthcare. Mhealth.
Park, Y. T. (2016). Emerging new era of mobile health technologies. Healthcare Informatics Research.
Rock Health. (2021). Digital health consumer adoption report 2020.
Theodos, K., et al. (2020). Health information privacy laws in the digital age: HIPAA doesn't apply. Perspectives in Health Information Management.
Trost, Z., et al. (2021). Virtual reality approaches to pain: toward a state of the science. PAIN.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2021). Notification of enforcement discretion for telehealth remote communications during the COVID-19 nationwide public health emergency.
U.S. Food and Drug Administration. (2019). General wellness: policy for low risk devices.
U.S. Food and Drug Administration. (2020). What is digital health?
U.S. Food and Drug Administration. (2021). Cybersecurity.
World Health Organization & International Telecommunication Union. (2020). Digital health platform handbook: building a digital information infrastructure (infostructure) for health.
Yan, K., et al. (2021). The Impact of Digital Therapeutics on Current Health Technology Assessment Frameworks. Frontiers in Digital Health.
