Current Perspectives on the U.S. Digital Health System for Sustainable Health Care: a Narrative Review
8 affiliations
- 1UC Irvine School of Medicine and Wen School of Public Health Irvine CA USA
- 2University of Utah College of Nursing Salt Lake City UT USA
- 3Doxy.me, Inc. Charleston SC USA
- 4Center for Clinical and Translational Science, University of Utah Salt Lake City UT USA
- 5Clem McDonald Center for Biomedical Informatics, Regenstrief Institute Indianapolis IN USA
- 6Learning Health Systems Informatics, Regenstrief Institute Indianapolis IN USA
- 7Arnold O. Beckman High School Irvine CA USA
- 8Fellow, Alma First Los Angeles CA USA
Abstract
Objectives: This narrative review explores the role of digital health technologies in addressing climate change through four thematic pillars: mitigation, adaptation, insight, and equity. The review aims to identify current perspectives about ongoing efforts, and high-value opportunities for leveraging digital innovations to enhance healthcare sustainability and resilience, primarily focusing on the U.S. healthcare system.
Methods: We conducted a narrative literature review to examine the intersections between digital health technologies and climate change strategies. We searched PubMed and Google Scholar databases using keywords including “climate change”, “digital health”, “telemedicine”, “mobile health”, and “sustainability.” We included both peer-reviewed and grey literature about climate change mitigation, adaptation, insights, and health equity.
Results: Digital health technologies—such as telemedicine, mobile health apps, remote patient monitoring, electronic health records, and AI-driven analytics—offer promising pathways to decarbonize healthcare, enhance disaster preparedness, improve surveillance of climate-sensitive health outcomes, and promote health equity. However, the potential benefits are moderated by challenges, including infrastructure disparities, energy demands of digital systems, risks of greenwashing, and inconsistent real-world outcomes. Emerging initiatives emphasize developing sustainable frameworks and cross-sector collaborations to address these limitations.
Conclusions: Digital health offers significant opportunities for advancing sustainable healthcare and climate resilience. However, achieving its full potential will require critical evaluation of environmental impacts, strategic investment in resilient infrastructure, and policies that ensure equitable access to technologies. Future work must integrate climate considerations into digital health innovation to build a more sustainable and inclusive healthcare system.
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BibTeX
@article{berenji2026current,
title = {{Current Perspectives on the U.S. Digital Health System for Sustainable Health Care: a Narrative Review}},
author = {Manijeh Berenji and Mollie R. Cummins and Ram Gouripeddi and Titus K. Schleyer and Jonathan Suh and Betty Villantay},
journal = {Yearbook of Medical Informatics},
year = {2026},
month = nov,
doi = {10.1055/s-0046-1816589},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1055/s-0046-1816589},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Current Perspectives on the U.S. Digital Health System for Sustainable Health Care: a Narrative Review
AU - Manijeh Berenji
AU - Mollie R. Cummins
AU - Ram Gouripeddi
AU - Titus K. Schleyer
AU - Jonathan Suh
AU - Betty Villantay
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/11/03
JO - Yearbook of Medical Informatics
DO - 10.1055/s-0046-1816589
UR - https://doi.org/10.1055/s-0046-1816589
AB - Objectives: This narrative review explores the role of digital health technologies in addressing climate change through four thematic pillars: mitigation, adaptation, insight, and equity. The review aims to identify current perspectives about ongoing efforts, and high-value opportunities for leveraging digital innovations to enhance healthcare sustainability and resilience, primarily focusing on the U.S. healthcare system. Methods: We conducted a narrative literature review to examine the intersections between digital health technologies and climate change strategies. We searched PubMed and Google Scholar databases using keywords including “climate change”, “digital health”, “telemedicine”, “mobile health”, and “sustainability.” We included both peer-reviewed and grey literature about climate change mitigation, adaptation, insights, and health equity. Results: Digital health technologies—such as telemedicine, mobile health apps, remote patient monitoring, electronic health records, and AI-driven analytics—offer promising pathways to decarbonize healthcare, enhance disaster preparedness, improve surveillance of climate-sensitive health outcomes, and promote health equity. However, the potential benefits are moderated by challenges, including infrastructure disparities, energy demands of digital systems, risks of greenwashing, and inconsistent real-world outcomes. Emerging initiatives emphasize developing sustainable frameworks and cross-sector collaborations to address these limitations. Conclusions: Digital health offers significant opportunities for advancing sustainable healthcare and climate resilience. However, achieving its full potential will require critical evaluation of environmental impacts, strategic investment in resilient infrastructure, and policies that ensure equitable access to technologies. Future work must integrate climate considerations into digital health innovation to build a more sustainable and inclusive healthcare system.
SN - 0943-4747
SN - 2364-0502
ER -