Landscaping Analysis
A comprehensive review of evidence to provide evidence-based recommendations on which digital interventions are ready for scale, where further research is needed, and how programs can be designed to achieve optimal impact.
Overview
Digital health interventions (DHIs) have expanded rapidly over the past two decades, offering new opportunities to improve access, quality, and efficiency of health services. Yet, evidence of their real-world impact on health care service delivery and health outcomes has been mixed, making it difficult for policymakers and implementers to decide where to invest.
To address this gap, our team conducted a comprehensive review, consolidating evidence from over 12,000 systematic reviews, 4,500 primary studies, and unpublished data from the global digital health community. The findings provide evidence-based recommendations on which interventions are ready for scale, where further research is needed, and how programs can be designed to achieve optimal impact. Broadly, we found the strongest evidence for targeted client communication tools such as SMS and voice reminders, while other interventions—such as AI-based tools and telemedicine—remain underexplored and present key opportunities for future research.
Beyond targeted communication, other digital tools include multimedia content delivered by community health workers, digital job aids to support frontline workers, and facility-based systems such as clinical decision support tools.
Objectives
Through this analysis, we set out to answer two critical questions: Which digital health interventions should be prioritized for implementation, and where should research investment be directed to close evidence gaps?
To achieve this, we:
- Conducted a systematic review of published and unpublished evidence.
- Developed an interactive evidence gap map to visualize the distribution and strength of evidence across interventions, outcomes, and health areas.
- Validated findings and recommendations through consultations with experts in RMNCH, NCDs, and HIV/TB.
Key Focus Areas
RMNCH:
Digital Interventions that aim to strengthen healthcare services for women, newborns, and children, including but not limited to increased antenatal care visits, institutional delivery, and contraceptive prevalence.
NCDs:
Digital tools to support the prevention, treatment, and management of chronic diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, mental health, and substance use.
HIV/TB:
Digital solutions to improve testing, access, adherence, linkage, and continuity of care for HIV and TB.
Evidence and Recommendations
Collaborating Institutions
This project is led by the Center for Global Digital Health Innovation (CGDHI) and funded by the Gates Foundation.
We partnered with the Geneva Digital Health Hub (gdhub) to design and develop the interactive Evidence Gap Map, which makes the findings accessible and actionable for policymakers, researchers, and implementers globally.
JHU Research Team
Smisha Agarwal, PHD, MPH ’09, MBA, Associate Professor (Principal Investigator)
Marlene Joannie Bewa, PhD, MD, MPH, Assistant Scientist
Katya Saksena, MPH, MBBS, Research Associate
Rose Weeks, MPH, Senior Research Associate
Yoko Shimada, DrPH(c), MHS, Research Scientist
Subject Matter Experts Providing Review:
Dustin Gibson, PhD ’14, MS, Associate Research Professor
Melinda Munos, PhD, MHS, Associate Professor
Diwakar Mohan, MD, DrPH, MPH, MBBS, Associate Research Professor
Laura Beres, PhD, MPH, Associate Research Professor
Dinesh Neupane, PhD, MSc, Assistant Scientist