DIGITAL-IN-HEALTH - Unlocking the Value for Everyone

4 CHAPTER 1 : THE VALUE OF DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY AND DATA FOR HEALTH AND HEALTH CARE Disparities in health and health care persist and have grown because of the pandemic. [...] The pandemic offered an opportunity to accelerate the implementation of digital health 8 CHAPTER 1 : THE VALUE OF DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY AND DATA FOR HEALTH AND HEALTH CARE solutions that may have been recognized as options prior to COVID-19 and to understand the preconditions that favored the implementation of such solutions, particularly in telemedicine (Baudier et al. [...] The future is kind enough to give you both.” Matshona Dhliwayo, entrepreneur, philosopher and author 15 DIGITAL IN HEALTH : UNLOCKING THE VALUE FOR EVERYONE Key Messages in this Chapter y Early efforts to introduce digital technology and data in the health sector focused on the digitalization of health data and on creating health information systems to manage health data. [...] Notable achievements in this period of digital awakening in the health sector include the publication of the Global Strategy on Digital Health 2020–2025 of the World Health Organization (WHO), approved at the World Health Assembly in 2020 and developed in response to a World Health Assembly resolution on digital health in 2018. [...] The perceptions depend on several factors: age, technological proficiency, level of engagement in technology design, the nature of the health concerns, the level of knowledge and confidence exuded by health care providers, the extent to which evidence is available that technology delivers better health, and the personal comfort of patients with sharing health data digitally.