What is Digital Health?

Digitalization and digital technology are transforming the way we look after our own health and that of others. Innovative digital tools bring new ways of monitoring health, of intervening to promote health at the individual or population level, in healthcare settings or at home. Digital technology is also bringing new opportunities for biomedical, clinical and health-related research, and sophisticated new possibilities for digitally-supported healthcare practice to improve care and patient outcomes.

At IfIS, our research and teaching in digital health encompasses all the key areas affected by digital transformation in the health sector, including prevention of disease and public health, patient monitoring at home and care support, digital diagnostics and decision support, digital therapeutics and digital biomarkers, and biomedical data science (Figure 1). We teach a broad range of courses to students at the Medical Faculty as well as courses in interdisciplinary programs spanning information systems, natural sciences, epidemiology, public health, business and management. Our strategic teaching objectives are to equip the next generation of students to lead, develop and harness the digital health of the future and to make it successful in real-world settings.