Digital Healthcare Technologies and the Co-Design of Healthcare Services: A Scoping Review

Healthcare today more than ever is supported by technological innovation that has allowed the improvement of the standards of diagnosis and treatment but also the enhancement of the collection of anamnestic information and monitoring of the treatment path. The new digital health technologies (DHT) and the use of algorithms based on machine learning and artificial intelligence have improved the integration and analysis of data from different sources, becoming a driving force for network collaborations both for research purposes and for healthcare. Moreover, the innovative solutions resulting from the integration between technology and healthcare, aiming at strengthening health services efficiency and patient outcomes, involve the need to integrate complex technologies and specific skills in the design of instruments, devices, specialized health care services. In this context, the theme of co-designing healthcare services comes into play, and it involves a due analysis of the challenges to be faced in implementing co-design architecture. The aim of the paper is to identify and analyse the coverage of the body of literature on the implication of DHT implementation in the co-design of healthcare services and give a trustworthy indication of the bulk of studies available as well as an overview of the key issues analysed. A scoping review is carried out to map the research done in this field and to identify critical themes and challenges. The results of this work allow us to outline a cognitive map of the “areas of involvement” and to understand which challenges have already been faced and which are rising. Several interesting theoretical and managerial implications emerge.