Global Agenda Council on Digital Health 2013
Issue Overview |
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The health sector has belatedly implemented the benefits of information and communications technology (ICT) and taken advantage of ICT’s transformative power and potential to improve access to care, productivity and quality.
Progress has been hampered by gaps in communication, the interests between the information technology (IT) and health industries, as well as by regulatory and competitive features of ICT markets. Health is a highly regulated industry; its product innovation cycle is often 5-10 years, compared to only 6-12 months in many industries. These long innovation cycles and regulatory hurdles have discouraged the IT and telecommunications (TC) industries. Health professionals and healthcare institutions purchasing ICT often take a conservative approach to adopting new technologies. Additionally, competition in the IT and TC industries does not always serve broad social interests in public and population health management, which have the characteristics of public goods.
Awareness is growing across both industries, however, that many of the obstacles to realizing ICT benefits in the health sector are common among nations, and that knowledge sharing between countries could accelerate progress in health ICT. Developing countries are not just learning the best practices in digital health from developed countries but are occasionally overtaking them. In areas like advancements in mobile technology, innovation can help reach certain populations that were historically inaccessible. As ICT advances are made in healthcare, opportunities to share information across national boundaries will grow, and international collaboration could enhance data sharing.
- In 45 out of 167 countries, no responsible unit exists within the Ministry of Health for the management of medical devices; 87 countries do not include health technology within their national health policy.
- The global e-health market is estimated at US$ 96 billion, and is increasing on every continent.
- In the European Union, there is no uniform procedure for drafting e-health policy; in different countries the Ministry of Health, the Prime Minister's office, a federal council or regional authorities, may handle this.
“Numerous studies have examined the impact of Health IT (HIT) on specific aspects of care provision: reduction in medication errors, improvement in referral processing and better management of chronic disease. Very few analyses have examined a holistic impact of HIT on the economic impacts across a country, such as the productivity of a country's workforce.”
John Glaser, Chief Executive Officer, Health Services Business Unit, Siemens, USA; Vice-Chair, Global Agenda Council on Digital Health
“The potential contribution of digital health to solving the enormous problems of health and healthcare affecting both the developed and developing world continues to grow ever more promising and exciting. At the same time, the rate of application of these technologies lags their potential. There is a pressing need, therefore, for collaborative, cross-national work to clear away obstacles to the use of digital health. The World Economic Forum can make a significant contribution in facilitating and stimulating this work.”
David Blumenthal, Samuel O. Thier Professor of Medicine and Professor of Health Policy, Harvard Medical School, USA; Vice-Chair, Global Agenda Council on Digital Health
“Safe, accessible health and social care of high quality, based on public need, is the cornerstone of the Swedish strategy for eHealth.”
Karin Johansson, State Secretary, Ministry of Health and Social Affairs of Sweden, Chair, Global Agenda Council on Digital Health
Digital Health Annual Report 2011
Healthcare Information Management Systems Society (HIMMS)
World Health Organization
American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA) 2012 Annual Symposium
3-7 November 2012
Chicago, Illinois, USA
Healthcare Information Management Systems Society (HIMSS) Annual Conference
3-7 March 2013
New Orleans, USA
Fourth Annual Consortium of Universities for Global Health (CUGH) Conference
14-16 March 2013
Washington DC, USA
The Council aims to advance the use, adoption and measurement of technology in health and healthcare, focusing on the following four key areas within digital health.
The development and alignment of standards are necessary to allow the exchange of health information between healthcare providers, public health organizations and consumers. The lack of common standards is a major barrier to using digital health to exchange health information. Researchers must identify innovations and interventions that can improve public health, and demonstrate that data exchange can empower patients to participate and have an influence on their own care.
The identification of digital health investments that offer the best clinical and economic returns would acknowledge the variations in healthcare priorities that can exist between countries. This would help ensure that scarce digital health resources yield the best possible return in health improvement and healthcare savings globally. The digital health dimension of proper data management should become a part of the total cost of health and care.
Stakeholder sharing across countries of similar and different stages of economic development can help overcome barriers to the deployment and use of digital health. Such issues include: process change within and between provider organizations; privacy and security management; the governance of digital health networks; the development of the digital health workforce; and, the effectiveness of clinical decision support.
It is also important to identify cross-national opportunities that can be used in a private and secure manner, as well as non-traditional sources of information on the behaviour, attitudes and values of individuals and populations. There is great advantage to ensuring all aspects of personal and health data are connected, as they are most valuable when integrated. A national debate on personal data is also needed to inform the public about the integration process and its benefits and risks.
Research Analyst: Shubhra Saxena Kabra, Knowledge Manager, Global Agenda Councils, Shubhra.Saxena@weforum.org
Council Manager: Olivia Baranda, Community Manager, Healthcare Industries, Olivia.Baranda@weforum.org
Forum Lead: Olivier Raynaud, Senior Director, Head of Global Health and Healthcare, Olivier.Raynaud@weforum.org
