Digital health interventions use cases: Classification and taxonomy development, a scoping review.

Area of Science:

• Digital Health
• Healthcare Informatics
• Health Technology Assessment

Background:

• Digital health interventions (DHIs) encompass a range of applications including integrated care, mobile health, clinical decision support, and risk stratification.
• Understanding the complex landscape of DHIs is crucial for developing effective assurance methodologies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore and classify digital health interventions (DHIs), their use cases, and applications in healthcare.
• To establish a taxonomy of DHIs, including use cases, patient outcomes, stakeholders, and technologies, to provide context for assurance methodologies.

Main Methods:

• A scoping review utilizing PRISMA methodology was conducted.
• Data sources included Engineering Village (Compendex, Inspec), PubMed, and OVID Embase from 2019-2024.
• Included records were screened for relevance to DHIs and their ontologies, with independent reviewer screening.

Main Results:

• Forty-one studies were included, revealing four primary DHI use case categories: diagnosis (n=12), detection/measurement (n=18), classification (n=7), and therapeutics (n=6).
• Multiple use cases were identified for some DHIs.
• Four stakeholder groups were identified: patients, healthcare professionals, manufacturers, and regulators.

Conclusions:

• A classification of DHIs, extending from workflow design and behavioral change interventions, was developed.
• The integration of AI and innovative technologies in DHIs enhances intervention effectiveness.
• A taxonomy of digital health technologies, including use cases, is presented to improve safety claim justification and evidence articulation.