Exploring Digitalization Health: A Bibliometric Analysis Using R

Abstract: In recent years, there has been a marked acceleration in studies focusing on digitalization in healthcare. These studies are increasingly recognized for their strong associations with key concepts such as efficiency, quality, financial sustainability, and cost-effectiveness. The present research conducts a bibliometric analysis of the literature on digital health to identify the thematic focus of existing studies and explore the trends that have emerged over time. Using the Web of Science database, a sample of 2,513 publications from the period 1992 to August 2024 was analyzed through bibliometric approaches. The keywords “efficiency,” “quality,” “finance,” and “sustainability” were used to categorize and assess the relationships between these themes and the broader digitalization trends in healthcare. Bibliometric analyses were conducted using the R package, which facilitated the evaluation of publication performance and the scientific mapping of the literature. In addition, VOSviewer was employed to visually map the analyzed data, providing a clearer picture of the research landscape. The results of this study reveal a significant increase in the number of publications on digitalization in healthcare over the analyzed period, indicating a growing interest among researchers in this field. Furthermore, the findings suggest that digitalization in healthcare offers substantial benefits in terms of cost efficiency, service quality, and sustainability. These factors have emerged as central themes in digital health research and are expected to continue shaping future investigations in this rapidly evolving domain.Keywords: health informatics, digital transformation, digitalization, bibliometric analysis