Dear Colleagues, 

Rising demand for health, social and informal care services due to the ageing population and a growing burden of chronic diseases, is estimated to increase health and social care expenditure on average by 1–2% of GDP until 2060, at a time of constrained public resources for health and care services. Over recent decades, the health sector has been experiencing a worldwide digital transformation. Several solutions are being developed such as digital services/products to improve diagnostics and therapeutic plans, remote monitoring, medical devices, wearables, Internet of Things and telehealth. Moreover, these solutions will allow the collection and analysis of continually increasing amounts of data from both patients and healthy citizens. Alongside novel promises, new ethical and policy challenges arise. These range from the need to adapt current evidence-based standards, to issues of general data protection regulation, privacy, oversight, accountability and public trust. Moreover, it may also aid health and care systems to overcome challenges like pandemics and other global health catastrophes. Digital health solutions have already shown the ability to support a more equitable and universal access to quality health and social services, to enhance the sustainability, accessibility and affordability of care of health and social systems, as well as to strengthen and scale up health promotion, disease prevention, diagnosis, management, rehabilitation and palliative care. Based on emerging technology, artificial intelligence and machine learning, health and care is under transformation through digital innovations, such as direct-to-consumer wellness products, wearable technology, digital diagnostics and therapies, computerized clinical decision support systems, medical devices, remote patient monitoring and portals, mobile applications and medical devices, new service models such as telemedicine/telehealth, connected care and virtual visits. This review aims to highlight the state-of the-art of digital health, as well as to discuss issues, challenges and opportunities that are associated with digitalization and the impact of big data in medical, clinical and health research.

Dr. Marta Almada
Guest Editor

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• Digital Health
• Digitalization
• Healthcare
• Big data
• Ethical issues
• Machine learning
• Artificial intelligence
• Innovation