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Digital health tools have become an integral part of the contemporary practice of medicine and will continue to evolve. It is imperative that end-users, medical providers, health care staff, innovators, and companies communicate and engage in the different phases of digital health design. Patient-designed, patient-centered digital health tools may be another method to engage patients in their own health care. The Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has highlighted the need for more responsive and timely platforms for health care information, delivery, and management. It has also exposed the need for improvement in the traditional face-to-face encounters of patients especially those who have chronic illnesses.

As technology advances in health care, it also raises challenges and ethical considerations for policymakers. Some of the concerns include transmission of misinformation; the internet is awash with hundreds of medical sites offering all types of advice and treatment options. Many of these websites are not even operated by healthcare workers and the sources used to collect the information include Wikipedia and other non-peer-reviewed articles. Patients often subscribe to these sites believing that all the information is true. Often patients make medical decisions without speaking to a healthcare professional and this may endanger the lives of many individuals. As this time of pandemic has demonstrated, medical and public health information and opinion from various sectors of society can easily reach the population. In addition, there is also concern that many of the devices that connect the patient to the healthcare provider may easily be accessed by third parties and lead to the release of sensitive patient information. Hacking of medical devices has been shown to occur. Further, there is great concern that some health care providers who practice digital health may be releasing patient data, which may be in violation of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). The practice of telehealth or telemedicine is now accelerating and new guidelines on billing, privacy, security, and documentation may be established. As to what information and how much information can be released and under what circumstances is still being debated. Finally, a bigger push towards digital health may erode the trust towards healthcare workers and place more reliance on medical websites. An example of this is the anti-vaccination movement which is quite vociferous and gaining momentum. At the end of the day, the health care team and patient relationship is at the heart of health and wellness.  Regular traditional face-to-face encounters and the complimentary use of digital health tools may well become the future standard of care.