Digital health in the efficiency and quality of Latin American health systems: A literature review
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.47606/ACVEN/MV0300Keywords:
Digital health, Latin America, efficiency, qualityAbstract
Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic exposed the weaknesses of healthcare systems worldwide, especially in Latin America, intensifying the need for solutions that ensure the continuity and quality of medical care. In this context, digital health emerged as a key strategy. Objective: To analyze the impact of digital health on the efficiency and quality of healthcare systems in the region. Materials and methods: A systematic review of scientific literature was conducted between 2019 and 2025, following the PRISMA approach. The search was conducted according to inclusion and exclusion criteria, using the Scopus, PubMed, and Google Scholar databases. Results: Significant improvements were evident in cost reduction, optimization of clinical processes, and expanded access. Advances were also seen in diagnostic accuracy, therapeutic adherence, and patient safety. However, barriers such as institutional fragmentation, technological gaps, and the absence of robust regulatory frameworks persist. Evidence suggests that while digital health has great potential, its implementation requires comprehensive, sustainable, and equitable strategies. Conclusion: The future of health systems in Latin America will depend on their ability to integrate these solutions with inclusive, patient-centered public policies.
Downloads
References
Bigorra, J., Sampietro-Colom, L. Salud digital: una oportunidad y un imperativo ético. Revista Diecisiete Investigación Interdisciplinar para los Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible. 2021;(4),137-143. https://doi.org/10.36852/2695-4427_2021_04.13 DOI: https://doi.org/10.36852/2695-4427_2021_04.13
Fatehi, F., Samadbeik, M., Kazemi, A. What is Digital Health? Review of Definitions. Integrated Citizen Centered Digital Health and Social Care, 2020;275, 67-71. https://doi.org/10.3233/SHTI200696 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3233/SHTI200696
Wood, B., Young, J., Abdel-Massih, R., McCurdy, L., Vento, T., Dhanireddy, S., Moyer, K., Siddiqui, J., Scott, J. Advancing Digital Health Equity: A Policy Paper of the Infectious Diseases Society of America and the HIV Medicine Association. Revista Médica Clínica Las Condes, 2021;72(6), 913-919. https://doi.org/10.1093/cid/ciaa1525 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/cid/ciaa1525
Katz, M., Mszar, R., Grimshaw, A., Gunderson, C., Onuma, O., Lu, Y., Spatz, E. Digital Health Interventions for Hypertension Management in US Populations Experiencing Health Disparities. JAMA Network Open, 2024;7(2), e2356070. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.56070 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.56070
Chidambaran, S., Jain, B., Jain, U., Mwavu, R., Baru, R., Thomas, B., Greaves, F., Jayakumar, S., Jain, P., Rojo, M., Ridao, M., Meara, J., Sounderajah, V., Celi, L., Darzi, A. An introduction to digital determinants of health. PLOS Digital Health, 2024;3(1), e0000346. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pdig.0000346 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pdig.0000346
Phi, N., Montori, V., Kunneman, M., Ravaud, P., Tran, V. Cumulative Burden of Digital Health Technologies for Patients With Multimorbidity. JAMA Network Open, 2025;8(4), e257288. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2025.7288 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2025.7288
Benavente-Rubio, A. El rol de enfermería en la salud digital: oportunidades y desafíos para la ciencia del cuidado. Revista Médica Clínica Las Condes, 2022;33(6), 598-603. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rmclc.2022.11.004 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rmclc.2022.11.004
Vinadé, M., Laguna, G., Fernandes, G., Aguilar, G., Dias, M., Moraes, E., Lottici, I., de Amorim, J., de Abreu, T., de Campos, T., Cabral, F. The evolution of digital health: a global, Latin American, and Brazilian bibliometric analysis. Frontiers in Digital Health, 2025;(7), 1582719. https://doi.org/10.3389/fdgth.2025.1582719 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fdgth.2025.1582719
Dalfior, V. Lapão, L. Provision of Digital Primary Health Care Services: Overview of Reviews. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 2024;26, e53594. https://doi.org/10.2196/53594 DOI: https://doi.org/10.2196/53594
Van-Kessel, R., Seghers, L., Anderson, M., Schutte, N., Monti, G., Haig, M., Schmidt, J., Wharton, G., Roman-Urrestarazu, A., Larrain, B., Sapanel, Y., Stüwe, L., Bourbonneux, A., Yoon, J., Lee, M., Paccoud, I., Borga, L., Ndili, N., Sutherland, E., ... Mossialos, E. A scoping review and expert consensus on digital determinants of health. Bull World Health Organization, 2024;103(2), 110-125. https://doi.org/10.2471/BLT.24.292057 DOI: https://doi.org/10.2471/BLT.24.292057
Battistotti, B., Savoy, L., Acuña, K., Flahault, A., Hasselgard-Rowe, J. Barriers and Facilitators for Implementing Digital Interventions for Anxiety and Depression in Latin America: A Scoping Review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2025;22(7), 628. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph22040628 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph22040628
Mathew, P., Joseph, D., Zacharia, A., Thomas, A., Oommen, S., Joseph, J. Visualizing Scholarly Trends in Electronic Health (eHealth) Business Models: A Bibliometric Analysis. Cureus, 2024;16(10), e71337. https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.71337 DOI: https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.71337
Zabalza, V., González, A. Estudio del proceso indagatorio inherente a una revisión sistemática documental Prisma 2020 con empleo de metaanálisis. RIDE Revista Iberoamericana Para La Investigación Y El Desarrollo Educativo, 2024;14(28). https://doi.org/10.23913/ride.v14i28.1904 DOI: https://doi.org/10.23913/ride.v14i28.1904
Moreno-Serra, R., Anaya-Montes, M., Smith, P. Potential determinants of health system efficiency: Evidence from Latin America and the Caribbean. PLoS ONE, 2019;14(5), e0216620. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0216620 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0216620
Curioso, W. Building Capacity and Training for Digital Health: Challenges and Opportunities in Latin America. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 2024;21(12), e16513. https://doi.org/10.2196/16513 DOI: https://doi.org/10.2196/16513
Gómez, G. Revisión bibliográfica - Salud digital y COVID-19. NPunto, 2020;3(30), 117-120. https://www.npunto.es/content/src/pdf-articulo/5f69a930e86dcArt7.pdf
Godoy, J., Ríos, C., Venegas, P., López, C., Álvarez, J., Labbé, T., Ramírez, C., Ríos, J. Oportunidad en la salud digital: una respuesta al control de las demencias. Revista Médica de Chile, 2020;148, 1018-1024. https://www.scielo.cl/pdf/rmc/v148n7/0717-6163-rmc-148-07-1018.pdf DOI: https://doi.org/10.4067/S0034-98872020000701018
Katz, R., Jung, J., Callorda, F. El estado de la digitalización de América Latina frente a la pandemia del COVID-19. Corporación Andina de Fomento (CAF), 2020. https://scioteca.caf.com/handle/123456789/1540 DOI: https://doi.org/10.53857/GQOL2178
Rizzato, D., Pedernera, F., López, E., Speranza, C., Maid, J., Gassino, F., Argiba, O., Castiglione, R., Pujadas, G., Gonzales, E., Álvarez, R., Markiewicz, M., Alegre, F., Ferrareis, L., Rolandi, F., Ayala, F., Abadie, D., Cejas, C., López, A., Rubinstein, A. Mi Argentina/Mi Salud: The Argentinian Citizen Digital Health Portal. Digital Personalized Health and Medicine, 2020;1011-1015. https://doi.org/10.3233/SHTI200314 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3233/SHTI200314
Santos-Peyret, A., Durón, R., Sebastián-Díaz, M., Crail-Meléndez, D., Gómez-Ventura, S., Briceño-Gonzáles, E., Rito, Y., Martínez-Juárez, I. Herramientas de salud digital para superar la brecha de atención en epilepsia antes, durante y después de la pandemia de COVID-19. Revista de Neurología, 2020;70(9), 323-328. https://doi.org/10.33588/rn.7009.2020173 DOI: https://doi.org/10.33588/rn.7009.2020173
Tentori, M., Ziviani, A., Muchaluat, D., Favela, J. Digital healthcare in Latin America: the case of Brazil and Mexico. Communications of the ACM, 2020;63(11), 72-77. https://doi.org/10.1145/3423923 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1145/3423923
Barra, R. State of the Art and Future Applications of Digital Health in Chile. International Journal of Health & Medical Sciences, 2021;4(3), 355-361. https://hal.science/hal-03365978/
López, F. Salud digital: vital para mitigar el covid-19 en México. Perfiles Latinoamericanos, 2022;30(60). https://www.scielo.org.mx/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0188-76532022000200013&lng=es&nrm=iso&tlng=es DOI: https://doi.org/10.18504/pl3060-013-2022
Rosa, J., Frutos, E. Ciencia de datos en salud: desafíos y oportunidades en América Latina. Revista Médica Clínica Las Condes, 2022;33(6), 591-597. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rmclc.2022.09.007 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rmclc.2022.09.007
Farias T., Baptista, A., De Lima, P., Torres, I. Brazilian Digital Health Index (BDHI): avaliação da maturidade da saúde digital do Brasil. Journal of Health Informatics, 2022;14(Especial). https://jhi.sbis.org.br/index.php/jhi-sbis/article/view/978
Barbalho, I., Fonseca, A., Fernandes, F., Henriques, J., Gil, P., Nagem, D., Lindquist, R., Lima, T., Dos Santos, J., Paiva, J., Morais, A., Dourado Júnior, M., Valentim, R. Digital health solution for monitoring and surveillance of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis in Brazil. Frontiers in Public Health, 2023;11. https://doi.org/10.33588/rn.7009.2020173 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2023.1209633
Contreras, S., Doubova, S., Grajales, R., Dip, A., Martínez, W., Nuñez, J., Silva, F., Zalapa, R., De la Barrera, M. Design and evaluation of a digital health intervention with proactive follow-up by nurses to improve healthcare and outcomes for patients with breast cancer in Mexico: protocol for a randomised clinical trial. BMJ Open, 2023;13(11), e077322. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2023-077322 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2023-077322
Cargua, R., Gamboa, M., Yepéz, D. Desafíos de Salud Digital Ecuador. Memorias de las 52 JAIIO, 2023;47, 124-130. https://sedici.unlp.edu.ar/handle/10915/165733
Morán-Reséndiz, R., Ruiz-Arias, C. Key Enablers to Boost Digital Health Solutions in Latin America. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 2023;9, e41204. https://doi.org/10.2196/41204 DOI: https://doi.org/10.2196/41204
Farias, M., Badino, M., Marti, M., Báscolo, E., García S., D’Agostino, M. La transformación digital como estrategia para el fortalecimiento de las funciones esenciales de salud pública en las Américas. Revista Panamericana de Salud Pública, 2023;47, e150. https://doi.org/10.26633/RPSP.2023.150 DOI: https://doi.org/10.26633/RPSP.2023.150
Alegre, V., Yael, M., Bianchi, A., Buedo, P., Campi, N., Cristina, M., Revaz, M., Larrán, S., Martínez, V., Massaro, L., Milano, A., Morante, M., Moreira, G., Moya, G., Sabio, M., Sipitria, R., Luna, F. Salud digital en América Latina: legislación actual y aspectos éticos. Revista Panamericana de Salud Pública, 2024;48, e40. https://doi.org/10.26633/RPSP.2024.40 DOI: https://doi.org/10.26633/RPSP.2024.40
Badino, M. Digital health divide and digital technologies for treating substance-related disorders in Argentina. European Journal of Public Health, 2024;34(3), ckae144.427. https://doi.org/10.1093/eurpub/ckae144.427 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/eurpub/ckae144.427
Capasso, A., Colomar, M., Ramírez, D., Serruya, S., Mucio, B. Digital health and the promise of equity in maternity care: A mixed methods multi-country assessment on the use of information and communication technologies in healthcare facilities in Latin America and the Caribbean. PloS One, 2024;19(2), e0298902. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0298902 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0298902
Arias, A., Medina, R., Ambato, A., Rosendo I., Lascano, C., Medina, A., Quispe, J. Sistematización teórica de salud digital. Sapientiae, 2025;8(16), 122-141. https://publicacionescd.uleam.edu.ec/index.php/sapientiae/article/view/883/1737 DOI: https://doi.org/10.56124/sapientiae.v8i16.008
Carlo, L, Cruz, E., Carpio-Arias, F., Baca, M., Jaramillo, M., Carpio-Arias, V., Waters, W., Mackintosh, N., Verdezoto, N. Socio-technical challenges in accessing antenatal services during pregnancy complications in Ecuador and the opportunities for digital health. Sage Journals, 2025;11, 1-26. https://doi.org/10.1177/20552076251343684 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/20552076251343684
Friday, O., Sehemba, D., Okewu, A., Ayokunle, A., Adeyeye, Y. The Influence of Digital Health Literacy Education on Adolescent Risk Behaviors: A Cross-Cultural Study of Japan and Uruguay. International Journal of Advance Research Publication and Reviews, 2025;2(1), 49-66. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/389050955_The_Influence_of_Digital_Health_Literacy_Education_on_Adolescent_Risk_Behaviors_A_Cross-Cultural_Study_of_Japan_and_Uruguay
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Nelly Marleni Hinostroza-Robles, Lester Byron Rodriguez-Lazaro, Luis Enrique Luna-Campos, Azucena Natividad Prado-Espinoza, Rosario Abigail Castelo-Collado

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

