Digital Health

Dr. Kevin Johnson (jokevin@upenn.edu) and Dr. George Demiris

Time:  varies

Location: online

Click here for Syllabus 

This non-technical course is designed for professionals and graduate students to understand the digital health landscape so they can effectively leverage technology for innovation, considering patient-centered care, equity, and ethical issues. Students will explore a range of health care settings, health care–data types, the role of patients as sources of data and recipients of information, the role of humans in the loop of AI, and the security, privacy, and confidentiality concerns of digital health approaches. There will be discussions of emerging systems still in their infancy, and technologies enabling digital health solutions outside of the hospital: what they can do, what they are unable to do, and which have the potential to revolutionize the way we deliver care from birth to old age.

Students will progress through activities to explore critical facets of developing a successful digital health solution (the solution may be hypothetical or real world). In the final week, students design a prototype for the solution they have developed during the course.

Learning Objectives

After completing this course, you will be able to:

• Summarize the recent evolution of digital health technologies.
• Match health care events and settings with digital technology to support care delivery.
• Identify collectible data types from digital health technologies that may improve or support health care decisions.
• Evaluate ethical and practical challenges and risks associated with using digital health technologies.
• Design a prototype to test a digital health solution.

Course Structure

This fully online course is divided into 6 intensive weeks, each running Tuesday through Monday. Expect to spend 12–15 hours per week on coursework. Most weeks, you will:

• View course videos
  Watch during the week, at your own pace. Most video pages include transcripts and supplementary materials.
• Complete required readings
  Read during the week, at your own pace. Readings are accessible from the Modules area.
• Participate in live class meetings
  Join the online session at specified times. Interact with faculty and classmates. We strongly encourage you to participate live. You may watch a recording if you cannot attend live.
• Engage with your classmates in discussion forums
  Usually due Sundays, with discussion responses due Tuesdays. Apply your learning and build your network.
• Extend and cement your knowledge with practice activities
  May be due Sundays or Tuesdays. Take quizzes, practice skills, and investigate challenges in your professional setting.

In the final week of the course, you will complete a final project that asks you to synthesize what you have learned.

Some assignments for this course may ask you to use productivity software like a word processor, spreadsheet, or presentation app. While you may use any office suite you prefer, you can access and download Microsoft Office 365Links to an external site. for free as a member of the University of Pennsylvania community.

Class Meetings

Class Meetings are 1 hour per week on Zoom, Eastern time. Mark your calendar now so that you can participate live. (Class meeting times are subject to change).

• Wednesday, September 18 at 4pm Eastern
• Wednesday, September 25 at 3pm Eastern
• Wednesday, October 2 at 3pm Eastern
• Wednesday, October 9 at 3pm Eastern
• Thursday, October 17 at 3 pm Eastern