JMIR Publications

Over the past 40 years, the healthcare community has been repeatedly excited by the hope of providing better care through the effective adoption of the technology. In the hope that digital health is going to be the game changer, an aura of hype has been created amongst the stakeholders of healthcare industry. However, digital health is yet to witness a large-scale adoption that could match the hope created about its utility. There does not exist an example where digital health has successfully transformed the health system of a geography and has demonstrated a net positive return on the initial investment. Owing to the lack of a positive business case, the initiatives pertaining to digital health are losing steam. Corporates are shutting down digital health labs, staunching investments in digital health, digital health conferences are consolidating, and governments are re-evaluating the funding regimes for such initiatives. For the technology to be able to create desired impact in this sector, the principle stakeholders namely governments, hospitals, insurers, tech developers, medical professionals, and patients need to participate equitably. The resources need to be focused on high impact areas like epidemiology surveys, legal and regulatory frameworks, geriatric care, and human resources training. For a new technology to thrive, the industry competitors and governments must work in unison to develop solutions that are pragmatic, solves the problems, reduce the cost of care delivery, and are sustainable in the long-term. Digital health is not dead, but it is in a stage where its revival will be an up-hill task.