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. 2020 May 4;6(2):e19106.
doi: 10.2196/19106.

Turning the Crisis Into an Opportunity: Digital Health Strategies Deployed During the COVID-19 Outbreak

Pol Pérez Sust  1 , Oscar Solans  1 , Joan Carles Fajardo  1 , Manuel Medina Peralta  2 , Pepi Rodenas  1 , Jordi Gabaldà  3 , Luis Garcia Eroles  1 , Adrià Comella  1 , César Velasco Muñoz  4 , Josuè Sallent Ribes  5 , Rosa Roma Monfa  1 , Jordi Piera-Jimenez  6
Affiliations

Turning the Crisis Into an Opportunity: Digital Health Strategies Deployed During the COVID-19 Outbreak

Pol Pérez Sust et al. JMIR Public Health Surveill. .

Abstract

Digital health technologies offer significant opportunities to reshape current health care systems. From the adoption of electronic medical records to mobile health apps and other disruptive technologies, digital health solutions have promised a better quality of care at a more sustainable cost. However, the widescale adoption of these solutions is lagging behind. The most adverse scenarios often provide an opportunity to develop and test the capacity of digital health technologies to increase the efficiency of health care systems. Catalonia (Northeast Spain) is one of the most advanced regions in terms of digital health adoption across Europe. The region has a long tradition of health information exchange in the public health care sector and is currently implementing an ambitious digital health strategy. In this viewpoint, we discuss the crucial role digital health solutions play during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic to support public health policies. We also report on the strategies currently deployed at scale during the outbreak in Catalonia.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; coronavirus; digital health; eHealth; policymaking; public health; telemedicine.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of Interest: All authors are public servants involved in the deployment of the digital health strategies mentioned in this paper.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Timeline of the digital health strategies deployed in Catalonia since the onset of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak. eHealth: electronic health; GP: general practitioner.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Primary care visits compared to other care delivery methods in Catalonia for the period March 01, 2020, and April 19, 2020.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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