The Importance of Evaluating Digital Health in the Context of Addressing Climate Change

Summary

As climate change increasingly threatens societal wellbeing, including public health and healthcare systems, the environmental impact and role of digital health technologies as mitigating agents warrants critical exploration. This paper examines evaluation of the utility of digital health to address climate-related healthcare challenges and discusses the environmental sustainability of digital health.

vA perspective paper based on a narrative review of literature alongside expert perspectives from the International Medical Informatics Association (IMIA) Working Group on Technology Assessment and Quality Development in Health Informatics and the European Federation for Medical Informatics (EFMI) Working Group for Assessment of Health Information Systems.

Digital health technologies hold immense potential to identify climate-related health challenges through predictive analytics, reduce the environmental impact of the healthcare sector through virtual care delivery, and equip healthcare systems to better respond to and navigate disaster scenarios. However, the increasing use of technologies raises concerns about their environmental impact due to high energy consumption and e-waste generation. It is, therefore, essential that their development, implementation and optimization is evaluated with a focus on environmental sustainability.

To ensure the sustainable integration of digital health technologies, a holistic evaluation approach is necessary. Informaticians, healthcare providers, technology developers, and policymakers must collaborate to establish standardized frameworks that incorporate sustainability metrics across the entire lifespan of digital health initiatives. By doing so, digital health can have a positive impact on healthcare challenges while minimizing its environmental footprint.