Introduction

Digital health

About

Traditional healthcare is going digital. New technologies are rapidly and inevitably changing health care products and services, with a profound impact on consumers. For instance, digital health makes it possible to check one’s blood pressure with an app or have a doctor’s appointment via a smartphone camera.

Digital healthcare has great potential to improve disease prevention, diagnosis and treatment. It helps healthcare systems to become more efficient − by avoiding unnecessary hospital visits for instance – and potentially brings down public expenditures.

However, digitalisation exposes consumers to the risk of their health information accidentally ending up in the hands of unauthorised parties. Consequently, the trustworthiness and safety of digital health products and services are paramount.

BEUC works to ensure health data is securely handled and to help consumers be aware of digital health implications.