What is it about?

Digital health technologies — such as electronic health records, telemedicine platforms, mobile apps, and decision‑support tools — are becoming essential in modern healthcare. Yet adoption varies widely across countries, institutions, and even individual clinicians. Understanding why some healthcare professionals embrace these tools while others struggle or resist is crucial for improving digital transformation in health systems. In this study, we systematically reviewed research from around the world to identify the main barriers and facilitators influencing healthcare professionals’ use of digital health technologies. We examined factors such as training, workload, usability, organizational support, infrastructure, and attitudes toward technology. Our findings show that clinicians are generally open to using digital tools when they are easy to use, clearly beneficial for patient care, and supported by adequate training and resources. However, common barriers include poor system design, insufficient time, limited technical support, concerns about data privacy, and limited interoperability between systems. By bringing together evidence from many studies, this review provides a clear picture of what helps — and what hinders — successful digital health adoption among healthcare professionals.

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Why is it important?

This work is timely because digital transformation is accelerating worldwide, yet many health systems still struggle to implement technologies effectively. Understanding the real‑world experiences of healthcare professionals is essential for designing solutions that work in practice, not just in theory. What makes this study unique is its comprehensive synthesis of evidence across diverse settings, professions, and technologies. Instead of focusing on a single tool or country, we examined the broader ecosystem of digital health adoption. This allowed us to identify patterns that consistently influence uptake — from organizational culture to usability to training gaps. Our findings can guide policymakers, hospital leaders, and technology developers in creating more supportive environments for digital health. By addressing the barriers and strengthening the facilitators, health systems can improve efficiency, reduce clinician burden, and ultimately enhance patient care.

Perspectives

This publication is especially meaningful to me because it reflects a core belief I hold: digital health succeeds only when the people who use it feel supported, empowered, and heard. Working with an international team on this review reinforced how universal many of these challenges are — regardless of country or health system. As someone committed to evidence‑based digital health, I found it rewarding to help clarify the human factors that shape technology adoption. I hope this work encourages more thoughtful design, better training, and stronger collaboration between clinicians, policymakers, and developers. Ultimately, I hope it contributes to digital health solutions that genuinely improve the daily lives of healthcare professionals and the patients they serve.

Hebatullah Abdulazeem
Technical University of Munich (TUM)

Read the Original

This page is a summary of: Barriers and facilitators to utilizing digital health technologies by healthcare professionals, npj Digital Medicine, September 2023, Springer Science + Business Media,
DOI: 10.1038/s41746-023-00899-4.
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