Accepted for/Published in: Online Journal of Public Health Informatics
Date Submitted: Aug 9, 2025
Date Accepted: Mar 7, 2026
Warning: This is an author submission that is not peer-reviewed or edited. Preprints - unless they show as "accepted" - should not be relied on to guide clinical practice or health-related behavior and should not be reported in news media as established information.
Transforming Pediatric Care Through AI: Bridging the Digital Divide in Global Health Informatics
ABSTRACT
Health informatics and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies present unprecedented opportunities for transforming pediatric healthcare delivery globally. Following post-pandemic digital health acceleration and rising demands for equitable pediatric care, this viewpoint explores how public health informatics systems, combined with AI-powered clinical decision support systems, electronic health record (EHR) integration, and telemedicine platforms, can enhance pediatric care quality and accessibility. Case studies analyzing the Pediatric Emergency Care Applied Research Network (PECARN) clinical decision rules, AI-enhanced neonatal sepsis detection systems, and automated autism screening protocols demonstrate successful health informatics implementations in pediatric settings. Key benefits include improved diagnostic accuracy through computer-aided detection, personalized treatment protocols facilitated by clinical decision support, enhanced accessibility via telehealth platforms, and early intervention capabilities enabled by predictive modeling. However, implementation faces significant challenges, including issues with health information system interoperability, data standardization, gaps in digital health infrastructure, and concerns regarding health equity and access to technology. Strategic recommendations emphasize collaborative development of interoperable health information systems, standardized data governance frameworks, and equitable digital health infrastructure to ensure global pediatric care transformation through public health informatics innovation.
Citation
Request queued. Please wait while the file is being generated. It may take some time.
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.