The Connected Healthcare Revolution in Public Health
A transformation is underway in healthcare delivery. “Connected healthcare” is yielding impressive outcomes among pioneering public health agencies, though it remains in its early stages in many countries. But what is it, exactly? And how can governments, regulators, and healthcare providers learn from the leaders in the field to reshape their own systems?
Revolutionizing Patient Care with Connected Health
Imagine a healthcare model where managing chronic conditions is seamless and efficient. Wearable devices provide real-time remote patient monitoring, relaying vital signs directly to healthcare systems. Any changes in a patient’s condition trigger instant alerts, enabling prompt adjustments to treatment plans. Medications are delivered precisely when needed, while virtual consultations guarantee continuous access to care. Over time, this integrated approach leads to enhanced health outcomes through personalized care plans tailored to individual lifestyles, all enabled by connected health technology that supports proactive management and strengthens connectivity across the healthcare ecosystem.
This future is rapidly becoming a reality, promising a new era of patient care. Consider Denmark, which has developed a comprehensive digital health system connecting citizens, healthcare providers, and policymakers, facilitating real-time information sharing and early intervention. This healthcare delivery model exemplifies how technology, when seamlessly integrated, can transform healthcare provision at a population scale. The time to act is now.
In this article, we explore how connected health and digital health solutions are shaping the future of public health. We uncover actionable strategies and real-world examples, showcasing how technology and collaboration can create a healthier and more sustainable tomorrow. Whether you’re a policymaker, health innovator, or technology partner, the time to act is now. Together, we can create innovative healthcare solutions and connected healthcare systems that are smarter, more inclusive, and built to last.
What is Connected Care in Public Health?
Connected care, from a public health perspective, is a healthcare delivery model—a holistic approach integrating technology, data, connected devices, and infrastructure within digital health solutions to enhance population health outcomes and optimize service delivery. It bridges gaps in care, enabling more efficient, coordinated, and proactive health interventions at scale. But exactly how does connected care differ from traditional healthcare?
Unlike conventional models, connected healthcare extends the existing focus on whole-person care to encompass the broader needs of entire populations—whether at the level of a nation, region, community, or tribal area. Connected health solutions build on existing approaches by designing devices, services, remote patient monitoring, and other interventions that address the specific health challenges of diverse population groups.
Enhancing Collaboration and Outcomes through Connected Health
Connected health fosters seamless collaboration through smarter data utilization, connected health devices, and communication platforms, ensuring care delivery is both proactive and efficient. This starts with creating interoperable data systems that allow for seamless information exchange between healthcare providers, patients, and technologies, supported by open standards like HL7 and FHIR.
In Europe, the Interoperable Europe Act mandates compliance with regulatory requirements by Member States, and facilitates the design and implementation of robust data-sharing frameworks by organizations. Unified communication platforms and AI-powered predictive analytics are essential to streamline workflows, improve decision-making and patient care, and ensure proactive care delivery. All of these must be accomplished as part of integrated healthcare automation strategies, along with a robust cybersecurity framework, and with new-generation techniques for preserving privacy, to safeguard sensitive health data and build trust and compliance.
What’s Driving the Push for Connected Care?
The COVID-19 pandemic revealed urgent needs to overhaul healthcare delivery models, highlighting the need to improve accessibility, speed, and overall scope of care to meet evolving demands. At the same time, healthcare organizations must navigate complex financial challenges while maintaining data security, patient safety, and quality standards, and offering affordable services. Recent studies show that healthcare providers are increasingly adopting digital health tools, with a considerable rise in the use of tele-visits and remote monitoring devices.
A survey by Jabil reveals that the majority of digital healthcare solutions are either in development or testing phases, indicating a strong pipeline of innovative products entering the market. Furthermore, most of these solutions are in the diagnostics sector, remote patient monitoring, or supporting chronic disease management. These results emphasize digital solutions’ crucial role in modern healthcare systems and the industry’s commitment to incorporating these technologies into future management strategies.
These trends highlight an increasing focus on healthcare automation and integrated connected care management through digital health solutions. Connected health solutions represent a significant way to address the expectations for more personalized care and better outcomes, while also offering enhanced efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and coordinated care.
Barriers to the Adoption of Connected Care
Implementing connected care strategies in public health is proving complex due to several factors. Barriers include data privacy and security concerns, compliance with regulations like GDPR and HIPAA, and vulnerabilities to cyber risks that erode trust among patients and providers. High initial costs, budget constraints, and outdated technologies hinder progress, particularly in underserved areas with limited infrastructure.
The lack of unified healthcare management strategies, slow policy adoption, and shifting political priorities disrupt long-term initiatives. Equity concerns and behavioral resistance from patients and healthcare professionals further stall adoption. Bureaucratic complexity, misaligned goals among stakeholders, and delayed returns on investment add to the challenges, making benefits like better patient care, improved outcomes, and cost savings hard to quantify.
Overcoming these barriers demands clear policies, robust digital health technology, stakeholder alignment, and a strong focus on inclusivity and patient-centric care.
How Governments Can Address the Challenges
Governments and public health agencies must adopt a comprehensive approach that aligns with global standards and remains resilient to political changes. Key actions include prioritizing investment in digital infrastructure and digital health systems, aligning with global standards, enhancing data security protocols, and fostering public-private partnerships to speed up the adoption of innovative healthcare solutions.
One key initiative transforming healthcare is the upcoming adoption of the European Health Data Space (EHDS) regulation. This aims to establish a single market for health data, empowering individuals with control over their data while fostering interoperability and standardized electronic health record (EHR) systems. By promoting uniform data formats and protocols, the EHDS regulation will enhance quality, accessibility, and trust in digital health systems. It is expected to boost the adoption of digital health technologies, enabling seamless data integration, real-time access to patient records, and more accurate insights for efficient and effective healthcare delivery.
Leaders in Connected Healthcare
Several governments and public health agencies around the world are taking steps to integrate connected health solutions into their healthcare systems.
The UK government, for example, has allocated significant funding to support the NHS’s digital transformation by integrating AI-driven healthcare technologies, aiming to enhance patient care through smarter diagnostics and treatment options, demonstrating the key AI’s role in resource-constrained environment. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has adopted Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR) standards for real-time infectious disease monitoring. The use of FHIR standards has enabled the UKHSA to collect and share data to healthcare systems, ensuring timely and coordinated responses to public health threats.
The UAE has embraced connected care as part of its healthcare strategy, with Aster DM Healthcare, based in Dubai, implementing services like Aster Chronic Care@home. This involves the remote monitoring of patients’ health metrics using connected devices, allowing healthcare providers to analyze patient data in real time and intervene proactively when necessary. The continuous care provided at home assures that patients with chronic conditions receive timely medical attention, minimizing hospital readmissions and improving overall health outcomes. Digital health technologies can extend care beyond traditional healthcare settings, improving chronic condition management.
In the USA, programs funded through the Alliance for Connected Care advocate policy changes to overcome regulatory barriers, extending the reach of connected care systems across the country. A notable example is the U.S Centers for Disease Control & Prevention’s (CDC’s) effort to modernize data exchange between public health and health care, driven by dedicated resources, policy and technology innovations, and proactive alignment of resources and policy levers across federal agencies.
Through the use of electronic case reporting (eCR), the California Department of Public Health identified significantly more silicosis cases than traditional healthcare reporting, leading to better case management. By implementing the ONC-approved Consolidated Clinical Document Architecture (CCDA) data standards for electronic case reporting (eCR), regions like Florida and Chicago enhanced data availability, completeness, and quality. This is enabling public health agencies to conduct more robust disease surveillance and investigation and share actionable insights broadly.
Another example is a joint initiative by ONC and CDC: the HL7 Helios FHIR Accelerator, a collaborative effort to test and pilot FHIR-based approaches for data exchange, such as immunization records and hospital situational awareness, enhancing real-time interoperability between healthcare providers and public health agencies.
Yet more evidence of growing connected health capabilities in the U.S is the establishment of TEFCA (Trusted Exchange Framework & Common Agreement) as a nationwide framework for Health Information Exchange (HIE). TEFCA enables public health agencies to securely interoperate with provider organizations across the country using a single interface and user agreement. These efforts spotlight the benefit of a connected healthcare and public health IT and data ecosystem.
These examples emphasize the importance of cross-sector collaboration and technology standardization in modernizing public health ecosystems and demonstrate a strong emphasis on digital transformation, interoperability, and patient-centric approaches in public health systems, as they align with global trends towards leveraging technology for improved healthcare delivery and outcomes.
The Road Ahead: A Need for Collaboration
Connected care in public health represents a transformative approach to healthcare delivery, with the potential to significantly improve patient outcomes, enhance care coordination, and drive greater efficiency in health systems. This requires overcoming numerous challenges, from regulatory hurdles to infrastructure limitations. However, the benefits are clear: improved patient outcomes, more efficient care delivery, and a healthier, more sustainable future.
By adopting global standards, embracing technology, and fostering collaboration, governments and healthcare providers can build systems that are smarter, more inclusive, and more resilient. As public health systems increasingly adopt connected care strategies, the focus on digital infrastructure, interoperability, and patient empowerment will continue to be key to overcoming the challenges faced by healthcare systems worldwide. Working together, governments and healthcare providers can create a future where healthcare is accessible, affordable, and effective for all. The time to act is now!
