npj Digital Medicine (Jul 2021)
The new platforms of health care
Abstract
For the past century, health care measurement and delivery have been centered in hospitals and clinics. That is beginning to change as health measures and increasingly care delivery are migrating to homes and mobile devices. The COVID-19 pandemic has only accelerated this transition. While increasing access to care and improving convenience, this move toward platforms operated by for-profit firms raises concerns about privacy, equity, and duty that will have to be addressed. In addition, this change in measuring health and delivering health care will create opportunities for educators to expand the settings for training, researchers to conduct studies at enormous scale, payors to embrace lower-cost clinical settings, and patients to make their voices heard.