The Digital Doctor: Chapter 24 - Digital health in end-stage kidney disease

Advances in technology and social demands have fueled digital health use in the end-stage kidney disease population. Prior to COVID-19, there was limited use of telemedicine because of regulatory restricting the patient's home and dialysis units as originating sites. With the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency waivers a surge in digital health occurred. Federal regulations endorsed telemedicine for patients receiving home dialysis in 2019. The role of digital health, some current examples of digital health implementation, challenges and future directions are discussed in this chapter. Limited data are available regarding patient experiences and outcomes with using digital health, but more robust clinical trials are needed to explore patient and clinician experiences, patient outcomes, and cost saving.