It is defined as the extent to which digital tools are applied and used by the healthcare service providers and the patients to deliver and access affordable quality of healthcare services to the patients. With the diffusions of internet technology, digital/e-Health literacy means peoples knowledge and skills to use innovative internet and communication technologies and devices such as laptop, tablet, and mobile phone apps to search for health information which is appropriate for health decision making process and communicate effectively with the doctor.
Published in Chapter:
Digital Health Innovation Enhancing Patient Experience in Medical Travel
Copyright: © 2020
|Pages: 23
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-7998-3274-4.ch002
Abstract
Digital health technological innovations are disrupting every sector of the economy, including medical travel/tourism. Global patients as medical tourists are using patient-centric digital health technologies, enhancing patient/medical tourists experience and making it more transparent and engaging with healthcare providers and medical tourists. Digital communication tools such as e-mail, online appointments, smartphones, instant messaging applications, social media tools, user-generated content by online patient communities, tele-medicine, tele-radiology, my-Health records, Skype consultation, WhatsApp, health video, electronic health records, health data analytics tools, and artificial intelligence-enabled health technologies enhance the medical travel decision-making process, reduce cost, improve patient care and transparency of communication, and engage the relationship between the patient and the healthcare provider with positive outcomes, medical tourist experience, and empowerment.