A systematic literature review of the transformation of healthcare by the fourth industrial revolution

Abstract

The aging population and lifestyle factors have contributed to increased cases of chronic diseases which increase medical costs for both patients and healthcare providers and affect the quality of medical care. The unequal distribution of medical resources between urban and rural areas has also increased medical costs as patients seek medical care in well-resourced hospitals located in big cities. I explored the nature and extent of digital transformation in healthcare with the aim to determine (1) the dominant applications of 4IR technologies in healthcare (2) the impact of disruptive technologies on the delivery of healthcare and (3) how the Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated digital transformation in healthcare. The study used a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) to analyse a final set of 84 papers from three major databases that met the specific inclusion, exclusion, and quality assessment criteria. A mixed-methods approach using both quantitative and qualitative thematic analysis was used to analyse the papers. The quantitative analysis showed that the majority of papers used the qualitative research method, followed by quantitative, and the least number of articles used a mixed-methods approach. The qualitative analysis reflected three broad themes (1) 4IR technologies driving transformation in healthcare (2) digital transformation areas in healthcare and (3) the impact of digital transformation in healthcare. The results showed that the first–generation 4IR technologies have not met the expected comparative transformation levels in healthcare and the next generation technologies have more potential for increased transformation in healthcare. Specifically, the results showed that (1) healthcare is transformed from conventional, centralised and reactive to digital, distributed, networked and proactive personalised care system for remote health monitoring, diagnostics and treatment at the point of care (2) the leading technologies transforming healthcare are IoT, AI and Big data (3) the main areas of transformation in healthcare are personalised care, precision medicine, telemedicine, remote health monitoring, data management, and clinical decision support including improved diagnostic and treatment outcomes (4) the impact of the transformation is observed through improved quality of medical care, reduced medical costs, and improved quality of life, and (5) the Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated the adoption of new age technologies for disease prevention and monitoring.