Emerging Practices in Telehealth Best Practices in a Rapidly Changing Field: Chapter 12 - Global telehealth and digital health: how to support programs and infrastructure

Global health is under various challenges due to demographic shifts and variations in healthcare equity that have become exacerbated during the recent pandemic. The use of healthcare technology, particularly digital health, reflects increased promise for such devices and services at a time when computing power and mobile device use have grown and internet connectivity and access have become ubiquitous. However, thoughtful strategies are needed to design, implement, evaluate, maintain, and scale such solutions to maximize efficacy. First, the healthcare ecosystem, including stakeholders and role of public and private sector actors, must be understood, while considering political and geopolitical context. Second, specific digital health solutions must be chosen after needs assessment, appropriate balance between technology and human capital and larger tech trends toward personalized health goals. Third, implementation of digital health programs should include monitoring and evaluation methods to build and sustain return on investment. Finally, program leaders should consider longer-term strategies to scale solutions and develop financial sustainability