Abstract
The aim of this chapter is to evaluate the effects of COVID-19 on health informatics. In this direction, patient and contact tracing, diagnostic process, healthcare production, and a conceptual framework have been established through examples. Then, evaluations were made within the scope of health informatics in these processes. Digital contact tracing technologies have been used to help reduce the spread of COVID-19. Technological tools have been used to facilitate social isolation to prevent the spread of the virus during the pandemic. Artificial intelligence technologies have been used to improve disease detection rates and develop treatments during the COVID-19 process. Robots have been used for cleaning and food preparation in infected areas to minimize the spread of COVID-19. The COVID-19 pandemic should be used as a natural experiment to analyze the effects of the transition of business processes to digital spaces. The effects of digital health technologies should be considered in this process.
TopIntroduction
Health informatics focuses on the analysis of big data by evaluating medical data to ensure the accessibility of health services. These studies are conducted to improve clinical decision-making, shorten hospital stays and predict future diseases and mortality. In addition, the discovery of treatment methods will provide improvements in the health status of society (Ravi, Wong, Deligianni, Berthelot, Andreu-Perez, & Yang, 2017). Thus, it can be achieved to reduce health inequalities in the aging society and society (Bath, 2008). The most important impact of the COVID-19 pandemic was experienced in the process of digitalization. Digital technologies have been used in several fields from education to health. In the field of health, COVID-19 has led to the intensive use of technology in service delivery processes such as patient monitoring and follow-up. Digital solutions are used in the production of healthcare services including diagnosis, screening, treatment, and post-treatment. They cover a wide area ranging from artificial intelligence to the internet of things and telemedicine. Digital health solutions support effective and efficient health service delivery (Grover, Kohli & Ramanlal, 2018).
With the development of the Internet, technological tools began to be used in health services. However, adapting the rapid development of technology to health services does not occur at the same speed. In this context, the COVID-19 pandemic can be defined as a driving force in the use of health technologies. In a smart field hospital trial in Wuhan, medical service-providing robots and IoT devices were used to reduce the risk of COVID-19. The rapidly increasing use of electronic devices has become important in sharing information between healthcare professionals and patients (Thierry, 2020). The widespread use of smartphones and artificial intelligence provides opportunities to ameliorate public health crises such as the pandemic (Wahl, Cossy-Gantner, Germann & Schwalbe, 2018). The potential loss of physician skills should also be considered in the overuse of artificial intelligence in healthcare (Ahuja, 2019). This study evaluates the impacts of digitalization on the processes of contact tracing, disease diagnosis, and health care production during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Healthcare: Healthcare is the maintenance or improvement of health via the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, amelioration, or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other physical and mental impairments in people.
Artificial Intelligence: The ability of a computer or computer-controlled robot to perform tasks commonly associated with intelligent beings.
Telehealth: Telehealth is the distribution of health-related services and information via electronic information and telecommunication technologies.
Telemedicine: Telemedicine allows healthcare providers to evaluate, diagnose and treat patients without the need for an in-person visit.
Digital Health: It covers a wide area ranging from artificial intelligence, the internet of things, electronic health, and telehealth use.
Digitalization: Digitalization is the use of digital technologies to change a business model and provide new revenue and value-producing opportunities; it is the process of moving to a digital business.