Download or read book Digital Health Applications: Acceptance, Benefit Assessment, and Costs from the Perspective of Patients and Medical Professionals written by Tonio Schoenfelder and published by Frontiers Media SA. This book was released on 2024-11-12 with total page 122 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Digital health applications (DHAs) are increasingly being used in patient care in various healthcare systems around the world. In some countries, such as Belgium and Germany, legal frameworks already allow for DHA integration into standard care, and their prescription and uniform reimbursement via the patient´s health insurance. In many other European countries and the USA, such a process is still in development. DHAs are primarily used by patients themselves, but also in consultation with physicians, therapists, or other healthcare providers. They offer the potential for improved health outcomes, and increased access to health services, especially in rural areas, and may lead to an overall improvement in the quality of care. The validity of studies on the effects of DHAs on patients and health care systems, in general, is currently limited since study methods applied do often not allow for drawing causal relationships, and most studies focus only on patient outcomes but do not assess how traditional care processes need to be adapted so that DHAs can be effective. Therefore, unambiguous evidence on which patient-relevant outcomes can be improved, specifically as a result of integrating DHA into the process of care, is currently lacking.