Digital Health Services and Healthcare Management Outcomes: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
Ye Cheng
✦ AI-curated · Sources linked
In 30 seconds
This systematic review and meta-analysis assessed digital health services—including telemedicine, telemonitoring, virtual consultations, and remote care—against conventional care across 21 eligible studies. Outcomes included healthcare quality, patient satisfaction, efficiency, hospitalization, and clinical outcomes. No statistically significant pooled differences were found for these outcomes. For hospitalization and poor clinical outcomes, the pooled estimate was RR = 0.81, 95% CI: 0.60-1.08, a nonsignificant trend favoring digital services. Heterogeneity was substantial across analyses (I 2 values ranging from 95% to 100%), so the findings suggest that effects may vary by context.
Key findings
- Healthcare quality did not differ significantly from conventional care (RR = 1.03, 95% CI: 0.90-1.18).
- Patient satisfaction showed no significant pooled difference (SMD = -0.06, 95% CI: -1.12 to 1.01).
- Efficiency showed a favorable but nonsignificant trend (RR = 1.52, 95% CI: 0.49-4.73).
- Hospitalization and poor clinical outcomes showed a nonsignificant trend favoring digital services (RR = 0.81, 95% CI: 0.60-1.08); heterogeneity ranged from 95% to 100%.
Why it matters
Digital services are increasingly used in healthcare delivery, but this synthesis does not establish an overall advantage over conventional care across the measured outcomes. The substantial heterogeneity cautions against assuming uniform effects across interventions and settings. Individual studies reported favorable experiences, but pooled results support interpreting potential benefits as context-dependent rather than established across services.
What to keep in mind
Substantial heterogeneity across analyses (I 2 values ranging from 95% to 100%) limits confidence in applying pooled estimates uniformly across diverse digital interventions.