30% of French people live in a medical desert (IRDES, 2022). Behind this alarming figure, a longer waiting time for medical appointments - or even a renunciation of access to care for some -, late treatment of pathologies, heavier and more expensive interventions, not to mention the pressure on healthcare personnel [1] . Since the health crisis, a trend has emerged that provides concrete solutions to combat medical deserts, and yet is not new: remote medicine via digital technologies.
So, digital health [2] : magic solution or gimmick effect?
What is digital health?
The term "digital health" is used more and more frequently. Behind this portmanteau word lies a wide variety of applications of digital tools to provide access to turkey phone number list care. Above all, digital health is aimed at several targets: healthcare professionals thanks to cutting-edge software (software that saves medical time), patients thanks in particular to telemedicine (teleconsultation, tele-expertise), the elderly thanks to telecare, etc. Explanations of the main tools that allow more comprehensive support for the patient:
More and more doctors are using “professional” software , digital tools that facilitate patient care and the creation of their files including clinical data, thanks to a variety of functionalities.
Telehealth includes several services, including the two main ones:
Telemedicine is a practice of remote medicine, through the use of digital tools. It facilitates rapid and efficient patient care, particularly in medical deserts, in order to deliver a medical diagnosis to the patient without the patient having to travel from home. Doctors have increasingly used telemedicine since the Covid-19 epidemic (three out of four doctors at the end of 2020 [ 3] ).
Telecare allows the patient to be cared for remotely by a medical assistant or pharmacist, using information and communication technologies.