Digital Health vs Health Informatics: Is there really a difference?

Digital Health and Health Informatics may appear as two distinct concepts, but there is a thin and unclear line between them. In simple terms, digital health has broader applicability in health, healthcare, living, and society, while health informatics is specific to health and medicine.    

Taadom Digital focuses on the delivery of digital health products and services. Our digital health areas include (but not limited to): 

• Internet Health Information Resource (eHealth): Websites or mobile apps designed to share health tips, guidelines or articles to specific target groups, professionals or general public 
• Mobile Health apps (mHealth): Any mobile app designed to provide any kind of electronic health services (e.g. mental health) using mobile devices like Mobile Phones, Smartphones, Laptops, Tablet pcs, smartwatches etc. 
• Personal Health Records (PHR): Patient records created by patient/user or provider and some patient also data managed through user’s personal devices 
• Electronic Health Records (EHR): Patient records created and managed by health care providers 
• Clinical Decision Support System (CDSS): Helps patients and health providers make informed clinical decisions 
• E-Prescribing System: For health care providers to order electronically medications or laboratory tests 
• E-Referral System: An electronic system patient referrals from one provider to another provider for continuity of patient care 
• Telehealth or Telemedicine apps: An electronic system to facilitate communication between people, usually providers and patients. 
• Secure Messaging System (SMS): Used to share secure and instant short messages to people; often, as bulk messages and to people with no smartphones.

Sources: TechTarget, TechWorld,

Our in-house electronic patient record system, the GenEHR, designed to be generic and comprehensive with excellent features suitable for Primary and Secondary Care Services in low- and middle-income countries. It has quality data standards mapped with medical terminology (Ontology) and capable of interoperability with systems like DHIS-2.     Other examples include Microsoft Healthvault, OpenVisa, OpenEMR.