The impact of digitalization on health care: a systematic review

This master's thesis aims to identify and systematically evaluate studies conducted on the topic of "The Impact of Digitalization in Healthcare Services." To achieve this objective, a comprehensive search was performed in the PUBMED database using the keywords "healthcare services," "digitalization," "patient," and "healthcare professionals" for the period between 2020 and 2024. According to the PRISMA flow diagram, 188 international studies were identified. After a thorough review, 50 research studies that met the inclusion criteria were selected for this systematic analysis. These studies were categorized under three main themes: patients, healthcare professionals, and COVID-19.The findings revealed that digitalization in healthcare services reduces waiting times, decreases costs for both patients and healthcare institutions, lowers hospital readmission rates, shortens diagnosis and treatment processes, and enhances the delivery of healthcare services to hard-to-reach populations. Furthermore, digitalization plays a critical role in reducing hospital overcrowding, accelerating information processing, enabling faster consultation processes, and allowing elderly and chronically ill patients to monitor their health conditions remotely without visiting healthcare facilities. In this regard, the present study provides valuable insights for healthcare managers, facilitating more informed decision-making processes.