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Published on: October 5, 2018
Viewpoint: digital paediatrics-so close yet so far away
Kai O Hensel1,2,3, John Powell4
1Department of Paediatrics, University of Cambridge, Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Cambridge, UK kai.hensel@uni-wh.de.
Insights
Digital health offers significant potential for paediatrics, but its adoption is hindered by underdeveloped evidence and clinician skepticism. Rigorous studies and integrated medical education are crucial for realizing the benefits of digital paediatric services.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Healthcare Technology
- Digital Health Innovations
- Health Informatics in Pediatrics
Background:
- Despite accelerated adoption during the COVID-19 pandemic, digital health solutions like electronic health records and telemedicine remain underutilized in pediatric services.
- Children and families are increasingly engaging with digital health tools, including mobile apps and wearables, for health management.
- The rapid evolution of digital health outpaces the development of robust evidence, leading to clinician skepticism.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore the potential of digital health technologies in transforming pediatric healthcare services.
- To identify barriers and facilitators for the effective implementation of digital health in paediatrics.
- To highlight the need for rigorous research and integration into medical education.
Main Methods:
- Review of current digital health applications in paediatrics, including electronic health records, decision support systems, and telemedicine.
- Analysis of digitally enabled research methodologies, such as online recruitment and remote data extraction.
- Discussion of challenges including evidence gaps, regulatory responsiveness, implementation resources, and clinician training.
Main Results:
- Digital health offers benefits for pediatric patient care, service delivery, and research, including improved participant identification and remote outcome measurement.
- Key challenges include the need for rigorous safety and effectiveness studies, agile regulatory frameworks, and adequate implementation resources.
- Integrating digital health into medical education is essential for clinician adoption and effective service embedding.
Conclusions:
- Digital paediatrics holds promise for enhancing healthcare delivery and research, but requires a scientific, evidence-based approach.
- Overcoming barriers necessitates rigorous studies, responsive regulation, and comprehensive integration into medical training.
- Successful implementation will ensure digital health benefits children, families, and the healthcare profession.
Abstract:
Technology is driving a revolution in healthcare, but paediatric services have not fully harnessed the potential. Digital health solutions yet to achieve their promise in paediatrics include electronic health records, decision support systems, telemedicine and remote consultations, despite the accelerated uptake during the COVID-19 pandemic. There are also significant potential benefits in digitally enabled research, including systems to identify and recruit participants online or through health records, tools to extract data points from routine data sets rather than new data collection, and remote approaches to outcome measurement. Children and their families are increasingly becoming digital health citizens, able to manage their own health and use of health services through mobile apps and wearables such as fitness trackers. Ironically, one barrier to the uptake of these technologies is that the fast pace of change in this area means the evidence base behind many of these tools remains underdeveloped. Clinicians are often sceptical of innovations which appear largely driven by enthusiasts rather than science. Rigorous studies are needed to demonstrate safety and effectiveness. Regulators need to be agile and responsive. Implementation needs adequate resource and time, and needs to minimise risks and address concerns, such as worries over losing human contact. Digital health care needs to be embedded in medical education and training so that clinicians are trained in the use of innovations and can understand how to embed within services. In this way, digital paediatrics can deliver benefits to the profession, to services and to our patients.
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