Table 2.
Clinical and operational applications of digital health technologies in COVID-19.
| Application | Description | Primary data | Narrative discussion | Total topical coverage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clinical applications (CA) | Detection (screening/diagnosis) | 29 (11.7%) | 37 (15.0%) | 66 (26.7%) |
| Triage/Risk stratification (predicting mortality, severity, duration of admission, etc.) | 19 (7.7%) | 26 (10.5%) | 45 (18.2%) | |
| Developing treatment (novel or repurposed drugs or vaccines) | 13 (5.3%) | 10 (4.0%) | 23 (9.3%) | |
| Developing novel tests | 4 (1.6%) | 18 (7.3%) | 22 (8.9%) | |
| Continuing care for non-COVID patients | 33 (13.4%) | 49 (19.8%) | 82 (33.2%) | |
| Operational applications (OA) prioritised for country-level responses by the World Health Organisation (WHO) | Country-level coordination, planning and monitoring (CPM) | 30 (12.1%) | 31 (12.6%) | 61 (24.7%) |
| Communication—risk communication and community engagement | 18 (7.3%) | 23 (9.3%) | 41 (16.6%) | |
| Surveillance, rapid response teams, and case investigations (e.g. contact tracing) | 9 (3.6%) | 8 (3.2%) | 17 (6.9%) | |
| Points of entry | 1 (0.4%) | 1 (0.4%) | 2 (0.8%) | |
| National laboratories | 3 (1.2%) | 10 (4.0%) | 13 (5.3%) | |
| Infection prevention and control | 7 (2.8%) | 41 (16.6%) | 48 (19.4%) | |
| Case management | 37 (15.0%) | 71 (28.7%) | 108 (43.7%) | |
| Operational support and logistics | 16 (6.5%) | 34 (13.8%) | 50 (20.2%) | |
| Maintaining essential health services | 29 (11.7%) | 51 (20.6%) | 80 (32.4%) |