Operational and Financial Impacts of Digital Health Technology: A Study on Canadian Healthcare System during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

ABSTRACT

During COVID-19, hospital capacity was significantly reduced to limit the spread of the pandemic. The limitations affected the efficiency of service delivery. We examined the effects of pandemic-related challenges on patient experience and hypothesize that digital health implementation increased patient satisfaction. We surveyed nationally aggregated data in hospital occupancy, hospital funding and patient experience, and plotted their correlation. We found digital health to contribute to patient experience and service-delivery effectiveness. We evaluate the benefits of digital health in context of hospital service delivery. Post-COVID-19, we recommend a continued implementation of digital health and offer suggestions to further improve its efficiency and cost-effectiveness.