A Brief History of Digital Health

Let there be tech in healthcare!

During the past couple of decades, it has become clear that when referring to the “future” of almost all disciplines, there is one thing that comes to mind: technology. The breathtaking pace at which artificial intelligence and information technology are changing the world is undeniable. One field where we see this pace is medicine; the intersection of new technologies and healthcare is referred to as “Digital Health.” This is virtually a simple concept: using technological methods and processes to improve people’s well-being while also empowering patients to make better-informed decisions about their health. Yet what makes digital health so fascinating is the complexities that result from this relatively simple definition. From wearable devices to telemedicine, digital health is revolutionizing the field of healthcare. In this blog, we will decipher this revolution by a journey through the history of digital health and what it can bring — and is right now bringing — to the world.

Let us begin by discussing the origins of digital health.

As the American poet Maya Angelou beautifully says,

“If you don’t know where you’ve come from, you don’t know where you’re going.”

In other words, studying the history of digital health will enable us to further understand its roots and conclude where it is taking us. In order to review this history, we must go back to the end of the 19th century, and the beginning is with a subfield of digital health that is now becoming more important than ever: telemedicine.

The Beginning (1897)

As one of the most comprehensive areas of digital health, telemedicine encompasses using electronic forms of communication (i.e., phone and video calls) to perform medical diagnosis. According to Adam Darkins and Margaret Cary in their book Telemedicine and Telehealth: Principles, Policies, Performances and Pitfalls, it was in 1897 that the first documented telemedicine happened. A child was diagnosed with croup — a viral infection in the airways characterized by a distinctive cough — during a telephone consultation with a physician. Despite its early appearance, until nearly 9 decades after this incident, long distance diagnosis was reserved for Antarctica expeditions and, later, for space missions.

Growth (1950 — 1999)

During the second half of the 20th century, the development of ultrasound imaging techniques, artificial organs, and DNA sequencing clarified the degree to which technology can be used in medicine. These inventions paved the way for digital health to go further than telemedicine and beyond the boundaries of diagnosis to the front lines of providing treatments.

The end of the 80s into the 90s were golden times for digital health. During this time, several professional associations appeared in the US and around the world to improve healthcare delivery through digital communication. Some examples include the International Medical Informatics Association, the American Telemedicine Association, and the European Health Telematics Association (EHTEL). These organizations greatly impacted the transition from traditional healthcare methods to more advanced, technology-driven substitutes.

Maturation (2000–2015)

During this period, we observe an increasing desire to digitize healthcare. Since the beginning of the 21st century, as technological innovations, like the world-wide-web, became more user-friendly, patients gained easier access to the world of medicine. At the same time, new terms in the realm of digital health began to appear, such as mHealth (mobile health), eHealth (electronic health), and Personalized Health.

The first decade of this century was also the birthday of digital therapeutics. This treatment option uses online and digital technologies to prevent and treat medical and psychological disorders. For instance, WellDoc, founded in 2005, is among the first companies in the digital therapeutics industry.

The invention of Fitbit was the climax of this period. In 2007, this company was found to produce wireless fitness devices that help users monitor their health conditions, such as heart rate and the calories burnt. Fitbit started the era of commercial wearable devices in the field of digital health. This was an important step: digital health was no longer reserved for adventurous, expensive missions to the moon or Antarctica — everyone could now use it, even at their homes!

Bright Futures (2015 — )

During the decade that we are in now — from 2010 to 2020 — digital health has grown into an entirely accepted path for achieving higher standards of health.

A significant milestone in the development of digital health was the launch of a digital health unit by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2017. The unit’s goal is to expand the opportunities for digital health to become a part of the general healthcare. FDA’s Digital Health Unit has tremendously sped up the development and distribution of digital health technologies.

Investments in digital health are skyrocketing in this age: from $4.1B in 2014 to $9.4B in 2020. In other words, the promising future of digital health is becoming more apparent to the general public. With the development of technological innovations in this era, we see digital health developing into a standalone market — one that improves the hopes of achieving more responsive and sustainable healthcare.

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References

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