E-HEALTH E MHEALTH: LA SALUTE DIGITALE GRAZIE ALLO SMARTPHONE
The term e-health refers to the use of information technology and telecommunications in the health sector. Since the end of the nineties, there was a first formal definition of e-health and even then, the opportunities and challenges that the new digital technologies brought to the attention of clinicians were already clear. Many of the technologies that we now consider part of our daily lives were almost unthinkable a few decades ago. Just think about the renewal of prescriptions, the online booking and the sharing of health data through specific medical software and medical devices. The digital ecosystem encompasses a myriad of technologies and concepts and there is no real clear distinction between categories within digital health.
Just to make an example, m-Health refers to the use of mobile devices in medicine and health, it is a sub category of e-health. The term m-health is often used referring to the use of mobile technology and communication tools such as smartphones, tablets, PDAs and wearable devices like smart watches for the prevention, promotion, treatment and maintenance of health, information and data collection.

m-Health and e-health interventions are beneficial for several reasons, for example:
- Disponibilità e accessibilità dei servizi offerti, che possono essere utilizzati ovunque e in qualsiasi momento;
- favourable distribution from an economic point of view;
- possibility to customise the contents;
- ability to provide real-time strategies to the users;
- possibility to calibrate the intensity of the intervention based on the user's needs.
Grazie alla crescente percentuale di cittadini che usufruiscono della mobile health, accedendo ai servizi sanitari attraverso gli smartphone, sono state sviluppate soluzioni basate su dispositivi medici mobili per migliorare l’accesso alla salute, le conoscenze e i comportamenti in una gamma di contesti e gruppi target.
L’e-health, già ampiamente utilizzato nelle nazioni industrializzate, si sta diffondendo anche nei paesi in via di sviluppo e nelle nazioni a basso reddito. L’e-health è sicuramente il mezzo ideale per fornire un maggiore accesso a segmenti sempre più ampi di popolazione e a migliorare la capacità dei sistemi sanitari di tutti i paesi, al fine di fornire un’assistenza sanitaria di qualità. Tramite la raccolta di dati clinici e l’invio di informazioni di assistenza sanitaria a medici e ricercatori, con gli strumenti digitali è possibile monitorare in tempo reale lo stato di salute del paziente e proporre una cura diretta e personalizzata.
IL SUPPORTO DELL’MHEALTH NELLA SANITÁ

Various medical devices and mobile health apps already exist both on Google Play Store and Apple Store:
- apps that help people follow medical prescriptions through traceable pills;
- apps that suggest taking a certain drug or recording all the symptoms;
- apps that allow the patient to communicate with the doctor;
- apps that help prevent obesity by improving our habits and monitoring physical activity;
- apps that are able to collect the health data of the patient and of the population in general, storing them in a single place.
OPPOSITIONS IN THE USE OF MOBILE HEALTH
- regulatory and legal frameworks that fail to keep pace with innovation, adoption and use;
- consumer concerns about security and privacy;
- disruption issues and fragmented systems: both technical (software, platforms, etc.) and 'system structure';
- equity issues arising from rapid digital deployments: problems of digital literacy, digital access ('digital divide') and impact on vulnerable groups (e.g. the elderly).
TECNOLOGIE DIGITALI E SALUTE PUBBLICA
E-HEALTH E MHEALTH: NUOVE OPPORTUNITÀ
E-HEALTH E MHEALTH: GLI OBIETTIVI FUTURI
CONCLUSION
E-health represents an innovation that connects new technologies, the clinical and administrative processes of healthcare companies and the skills of the people working in the sector.
Among the few Italian software houses focused on e-health, we would like to highlight IPPOCRATE AS, a company specialised in the development of digital tools for medical care and to support prevention, diagnosis and treatment.