Korean J Physiol Pharmacol.  2019 Sep;23(5):311-315. 10.4196/kjpp.2019.23.5.311.

Current status and future direction of digital health in Korea

• Shin SY

• KMID: 2455807
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4196/kjpp.2019.23.5.311

Abstract

Recently, digital health has gained the attention of physicians, patients, and healthcare industries. Digital health, a broad umbrella term, can be defined as an emerging health area that uses brand new digital or medical technologies involving genomics, big data, wearables, mobile applications, and artificial intelligence. Digital health has been highlighted as a way of realizing precision medicine, and in addition is expected to become synonymous with health itself with the rapid digitization of all health-related data. In this article, we first define digital health by reviewing the diverse range of definitions among academia and government agencies. Based on these definitions, we then review the current status of digital health, mainly in Korea, suggest points that are missing from the discussion or ought to be added, and provide future directions of digital health in clinical practice by pointing out certain key points.

Keyword

Artificial intelligence; Digital health; eHealth; Government regulation; Mobile health

MeSH Terms

Artificial Intelligence
Genomics
Government Agencies
Government Regulation
Health Care Sector
Humans
Korea*
Mobile Applications
Precision Medicine
Telemedicine

Figure

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  Fig. 1 Relationship between digital health and other terms. Modified from Choi YS. 2019 [4] with permission. AI, artificial intelligence.

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  Fig. 2 Healthcare data digitization. EHR, electronic health records; COPE, computerized physician order entry; PACS, picture archiving and communication system; LIMS, laboratory information management system.

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  Fig. 3 Unified view of healthcare data and their roles. Modified from Fig. 1 in Park YR, et al. Hanyang Med Rev 2017;37:86–92 [24].

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