E-Health: Defined

The emerging and evolving term e-health broadly refers to the use of computer and advanced communication technologies for health purposes, particularly aiming at improving people's health and health care services. Various definitions and meanings exist to date, but e-health generally holds the promise of improving health care by expanding its access, increasing its efficiency, extending its reach, and engaging and involving health consumers and practitioners in ways previously unattainable. It is a growing field, intersecting technology, public health, and business. Thus, the term e-health has often been used interchangeably with many related terms such as medical informatics, consumer health informatics, e-commerce, e-business, telemedicine, mHealth, health information technology, interactive communication technology, and health Internet, among others. Today, however, e-health is considered an overarching term, referring to ...