Digital determinants of health: Editorial

Abstract

Digital health systems have grown very rapidly in the last decade in high-income regions, including North America and Europe, and also in many low-and middle-income regions While core health information systems like electronic health records and radiology information systems are central to this progress, equally important are mobile health tools, telehealth systems, and certain health uses of social media. The benefits shown in healthcare delivery and public health from the use of these systems are predicated both on access to this diverse set of tools (based on access to technology, power, networking, and training) and the ability of healthcare workers and patients to use them effectively (digital literacy). In this edition of the journal, the focus is on a new concept: Digital Determinants of Health (DDoH), described below. Clearly, there are inequalities of access to healthcare and health technologies around the world and many different ways of delivering care. The concern here is with inequities in access to care driven by poverty, mismanagement, and systems that continue to be designed without a core focus on the right of all patients from all groups and abilities and in all locations to good quality health and healthcare. Health equity is "the absence of health inequities, differences in health that are unnecessary, avoidable, unfair, and unjust" Using a range of methods, the authors have explored the importance of different aspects of this emerging area of research, including surveying the literature in 3 scoping reviews, and developed new frameworks for describing and analyzing the importance of the different factors and potential biases. The comprehensiveness of this work has been aided by a policy on inclusion of authors, reviewers, and editors from different communities and countries at PLOS Digital Health.

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