Digital technology has shown great promise in transforming the way we deliver healthcare.
As a relatively new development in health, it has already created an abundance of opportunities for people and health systems alike, from better data sharing and analysis to reducing costs, and managing the care of patients and illnesses. Yet there are risks that come with the use of digital technology, particularly in terms of safety and security, which need to be considered and managed with an adaptable approach.
In this rapidly emerging and evolving field, we’ve continued to expand our work on digital health, focusing on areas such as the use of electronic health records and healthcare data to improve care quality and safety.
We aim to use our expertise in digital health to both analyse and impact current and future policies while also creating promising solutions. In a field that has historically been slow to adopt new technologies, we want to promote an openness to digital innovations while ensuring robust research, policy frameworks and high-quality evidence have been considered before implementation.
Our work
We have a multi-disciplinary team which includes researchers, policy-makers, industry, patients and clinicians working on a range of projects. Through this expertise, we’re ideally placed at the intersection of policy, research and practice.
Find out some of the ways we’re influencing the digital health sphere.
Digital project examples
- Cyber security in healthcare
- Generating evidence for digital
- Safeguarding our health systems
- Digital solutions in health
- Digital tech in primary care
The number and severity of cyber-attacks against healthcare systems and hospitals has increased significantly, compromising the health information of millions of people. This is only expected to increase in the future due to our reliance on technology in healthcare.
We are proud to be one the first centres globally to be focusing on cyber security in health care. Our team of experts is working closely with organisations such as the Department of Health, the National Cybersecurity Centre, as well as commercial companies and academics to influence practice on effective cyber security.
In 2019 we published an in-depth impact analysis of the May 2017 WannaCry ransomware attack on the NHS, highlighting how cyber-attacks must be considered a patient safety issue and not just an IT issue.
Our progress
Find out how our work is making a positive difference in digital healthcare.
Our progress
Harnessing the UK’s health data to improve care
While the UK is well placed to use its health data to benefit the population, the government, charities, academia and industry are working without a unified strategy. Our White Paper, ‘NHS data: Maximising its impact on the health and wealth of the United Kingdom’, proposes a single framework to guide the proper use of the UK’s health data assets.
Published in February 2020, the paper is informed by a series of interviews and a half-day workshop with representatives from these sectors. It emphasises the goal of any health data strategy must be to deliver benefits to people in the UK and specifically to the NHS.
Download the report here.
Evaluating digital health solutions
Digital health solutions have much potential to positively transform health and care. However for progress in the sector, these technologies must be evaluated in a timely, cost-effective and robust way.
Our paper, ‘Challenges for the evaluation of digital health solutions—A call for innovative evidence generation approaches’, takes a look at current evaluation strategies and assesses the challenges faced by stakeholders. Published in Nature last year, it calls for new ways to facilitate the safe and responsible growth of the digital health sector.
Read the paper here.
Improving cyber security in the NHS
In July 2019, we published a White Paper titled, “Improving Cyber Security in the NHS,” outlining the risks and threats to the NHS in the event of a cyber-attack.
This report, which was presented at the House of Lords, made key recommendations for cyber security best practice to address vulnerabilities in health systems.
Download our report: Improving Cyber Security in the NHS White Paper 2020 PDF
Read our publications
Developing a globally applicable cybersecurity framework for healthcare: a Delphi consensus study, The BMJ, March 2021
Safeguarding our healthcare systems: A global framework for cybersecurity, World Innovation Summit for Health, November 2020
Public perceptions on data sharing: key insights from the UK and the USA, The Lancet, July 2020
NHS Data: Maximising its impact on the health and wealth of the United Kingdom, February 2020,
Ensuring that the NHS realises fair financial value from its data, The Lancet, January 2020,
A retrospective impact analysis of the WannaCry cyberattack on the NHS, Nature, October 2019
Contact us
If you’re interested in finding out more about our work or collaborating with us, get in touch with:
Dr Saira Ghafur
Lead for Digital Health, Centre for Health Policy
Gianluca Fontana
Director of Operations, Centre for Health Policy