Accepted for/Published in: Journal of Medical Internet Research
Date Submitted: Nov 13, 2022
Date Accepted: Jun 29, 2023
The role of a smart health ecosystem in transforming the management of chronic health conditions: a viewpoint
ABSTRACT
The effective management of chronic conditions requires an integrated approach that promotes self-care and fosters the efficiency of future health care systems. A smart health ecosystem is one solution to the disjointed landscape of technology, health care systems and self-care. Our vision for a smart health ecosystem leverages the interoperability of technologies and advancements in big data and artificial intelligence and applies them to collect and analyse data. After intelligent analysis, data summaries, personalised behavioural support and connection to health care professionals and other sources of support (e.g., family, friend, or caregiver) will be provided. We envisage that this approach to health care will provide benefits to the health care system, clinicians, and patients by allowing a comprehensive picture of health, personalisation and tailoring of health care delivery and intervention, theoretical advancements driving the theory development cycle and empowering people to manage their own health with support from clinicians. Nevertheless, there are some topics for consideration and further research in the realms of system design, technical specification, data security and storage, system implementation and economic evaluation. This article describes a vision for a smart health ecosystem, illustrating the concept through two use case studies. We also reflect on key considerations and provide recommendations for further research to encourage people with chronic conditions, their caregivers, health care professionals, policy and decision-makers, and technology experts to join their efforts and work towards adopting a smart health ecosystem.
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Copyright
© The authors. All rights reserved. This is a privileged document currently under peer-review/community review (or an accepted/rejected manuscript). Authors have provided JMIR Publications with an exclusive license to publish this preprint on it's website for review and ahead-of-print citation purposes only. While the final peer-reviewed paper may be licensed under a cc-by license on publication, at this stage authors and publisher expressively prohibit redistribution of this draft paper other than for review purposes.