The Future of Health: Exploring the Risks and Opportunities of Digitised Medicine

Over the past few years, the advancements in technology have revolutionized various industries, and the healthcare sector is no exception. The digitization of health and medicine has brought forth a plethora of opportunities and advancements that have the potential to transform the way we approach healthcare. However, amidst all the optimism surrounding digitised health, it is crucial to acknowledge the risks and challenges that come along with this digital transformation.

Digitised health refers to the integration of technology and healthcare services, enabling the storage, sharing, and analysis of medical information in electronic form. This includes electronic health records (EHRs), telemedicine, wearables, health apps, and remote patient monitoring, just to name a few. These technologies have the potential to improve patient outcomes, enhance access to healthcare, and facilitate better communication between healthcare providers and patients.

One of the key benefits of digitised medicine is the ability to collect and analyze vast amounts of health data, allowing for more precise and personalized treatment plans. With wearable devices monitoring vital signs, smart algorithms can detect patterns and identify potential health concerns, enabling early intervention. This data-driven approach has the potential to revolutionize preventive medicine and drastically reduce the burden on healthcare systems.

Digitised Health, Medicine and Risk

by Deborah Lupton (1st Edition, Kindle Edition)

4 out of 5

Language	:	English
File size	:	1013 KB
Text-to-Speech	:	Enabled
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Print length	:	165 pages

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Another significant advantage of digitised health is its potential to enhance patient engagement and empowerment. Through health apps and online platforms, patients can access their medical records, schedule appointments, and communicate with healthcare providers. This increased accessibility and convenience can improve patient adherence to treatment plans and encourage active participation in their own healthcare journey.

However, it is crucial to address the potential risks and challenges that come with digitised health. As more medical data is stored and shared electronically, ensuring data privacy and security becomes paramount. The risk of data breaches and unauthorized access to sensitive patient information is a real concern. Healthcare organizations must invest in robust cybersecurity measures and adhere to strict privacy regulations to mitigate these risks.

Moreover, the reliance on technology can introduce new vulnerabilities and potential errors. Technical glitches, system failures, or even cyber-attacks can disrupt the delivery of healthcare services and compromise patient safety. Healthcare providers must prioritize the development of backup plans and redundancies to minimize the impact of such events.

Additionally, the digital divide must be considered in the context of digitised health. While technology has the potential to improve healthcare accessibility, it can also exacerbate existing disparities. Not everyone has access to smartphones, stable internet connections, or the necessary digital literacy to navigate health apps and websites. Therefore, efforts must be made to ensure equitable access to digitised health services to avoid leaving certain populations behind.

In , digitised health and medicine hold immense promise for the future of healthcare. The integration of technology can revolutionize patient care, enhance preventive medicine, and empower individuals to take control of their health. However, it is crucial to address the associated risks and challenges that come along with this digital transformation, such as data privacy concerns, potential vulnerabilities, and the digital divide. By implementing robust cybersecurity measures, fostering technological redundancy, and ensuring equitable access, we can maximize the benefits of digitised health while mitigating its risks.

Digitised Health, Medicine and Risk

by Deborah Lupton (1st Edition, Kindle Edition)

4 out of 5

Language	:	English
File size	:	1013 KB
Text-to-Speech	:	Enabled
Screen Reader	:	Supported
Enhanced typesetting	:	Enabled
Print length	:	165 pages

FREE

A prevailing excitement can be discerned in the medical and public health literature and popular media concerning the apparent ‘disruptive’ or ‘revolutionary’ potential of digital health technologies. Most of the wider social implications are often ignored or glossed over in such accounts. Critical approaches from within the social sciences that take a more measured perspective are important – including those that focus on risk. The contributors to this volume examine various dimensions of risk in the context of digital health. They identify that digital health devices and software offer the ability to configure new forms of risk, in concert with novel responsibilities. The contributions emphasise the sheer volume of detail about very personal and private elements of people’s lives, emotions and bodies that contemporary digital technologies can collect. They show that apps and other internet tools and forums provide opportunities for health and medical risks to be identified, publicised or managed, but also for unvalidated new therapies to be championed. Most of the authors identify the neoliberal ‘soft’ politics of digital health, in which lay people are encouraged (‘nudged’) to engage in practices of identifying and managing health risk in their own interests, and the victim-blaming that may be part of these discourses.

This book was originally published as a special issue of Health, Risk and Society.