Digital health and citizen engagement: Changing the face of health service delivery

Abstract

We highlight two contemporary trends that would benefit from more focused research as they have the capacity to significantly reshape health system delivery in the coming decade. The first is digital health and big data science. The second potential landslide is the growing phenomenon of patient and citizen engagement. This paper outlines the key features and rationale for how digital health and increased engagement can reshape health services, pointing to key areas that warrant careful research by healthcare management scholars. We further point to the relationship and overlap of these two areas and suggest that examining the synergy between these two related trends is a third area of priority in health research.