Digital Health Technologies and Standardized Protocols for Patient Safety in Hospital-Based Settings: A Scoping...

Patient safety remains a major concern in hospital-based settings because of adverse events, medication errors, communication failures, delayed recognition of clinical deterioration, and inconsistent adherence to safety protocols. Digital health technologies are increasingly used to support patient safety, but their contribution may depend on integration with standardized protocols and multidisciplinary workflows.

This scoping review aimed to map evidence on the integration of digital health technologies and standardized protocols for supporting patient safety in hospital-based settings.

This scoping review followed the Arksey and O'Malley framework, further refined by Levac et al, and was guided by PRISMA-ScR. PubMed, Scopus, CINAHL, Web of Science, and IEEE Xplore were searched for English-language studies published from 2006 to June 2025. Eligible studies examined digital health technologies integrated with standardized protocols in hospital-based care and reported patient safety-related outcomes. Data were synthesized using descriptive content analysis and thematic synthesis.

Twenty studies were included. Four themes were identified: algorithm-based early warning systems for patient deterioration and sepsis risk; barcode medication administration, electronic medication reconciliation, and clinical decision support systems for medication safety; standardized handoff protocols and digital checklists for clinical communication and workflow adherence; and electronic monitoring systems and digital safety toolkits for hand hygiene and fall prevention. Included studies reported study-specific outcomes related to mortality, length of stay, medication errors, adverse drug events, communication accuracy, protocol adherence, hand hygiene compliance, and fall-related outcomes.

Digital health technologies may support patient safety when aligned with standardized protocols and embedded in multidisciplinary workflows. Because no formal critical appraisal or quantitative synthesis was conducted, findings should be interpreted as evidence mapping rather than definitive evidence of effectiveness. Future studies should examine implementation quality, alert fatigue, staff training, workflow integration, sustainability, and transferability across hospital contexts.