Digital Health Tools

Older adults with chronic diseases may benefit from digital health technologies through self-monitoring, self-management, provider contact, better outcomes, adherence, and time savings. Digital health technology in rural PHC should be prioritised for government funding and investment. Increased contact frequency through digital health tools contributed to significant reductions in unplanned healthcare visits, emergency department use, and hospitalisations. Many digital health interventions require minimal IT skills or assets, enabling even low-resourced rural services to improve healthcare quality. Digital health tools promise to improve accessibility, efficiency, safety, and personalisation of care. Digital and face-to-face support are complementary rather than competing modalities, with digital rapport potentially motivating subsequent in-person attendance. Digital health encompasses a broad range of technologies including EHRs, telemedicine, mHealth, AI applications, remote patient monitoring, clinical decision support systems, and digital therapeutics. The study defined digital health technologies broadly to include smart wearables, e-health, telemedicine, m-health, and health…