A comprehensive review of business models in Digital Health: insights and implications for research, industry, and policy

Introduction Digital Health adoption surged during COVID-19, yet sustainable scaling is still hindered by unclear market boundaries and business models that often remain overly technology-centric.Objectives To identify salient properties of Digital Health business models and provide a detailed classification of their components and constituent elements across Digital Health subdomains.Methodology We conducted a systematic literature review (September 2023) across Scopus, Web of Science, and PubMed. From 120 records, we retained 54 studies that reported at least one codable Business Model Canvas (BMC) building block. Data were extracted by multiple reviewers using a structured coding matrix.Results Across the 54 included studies, evidence concentrates on eHealth and telemedicine, while Big Data/AI-enabled solutions are less represented, appearing in 4 and 2 papers, respectively. Most studies emphasize Value Proposition and Customer Segments. By contrast, Customer Relationships and Channels are comparatively underreported, and cross-block interdependencies are rarely explicit.Practical implications This synthesis offers a replicable, fine-grained map to benchmark and design sustainable Digital Health offerings, helping firms better understand value proposition design, customer targeting, partnership configurations, and monetization logics, while supporting policymakers in aligning reimbursement and governance mechanisms with scalable delivery models.

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Publication Details

Journal
Health Systems
Published
2026-09-15
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1080/20476965.2026.2728625
Primary Topic
Mobile Health and mHealth Applications
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
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article

A comprehensive review of business models in Digital Health: insights and implications for research, industry, and policy

Marina Garofano, Angelo Corallo, Claudio Pascarelli, Chiara Colucci et al.
Health Systems
Mobile Health and mHealth Applications
article

A comprehensive review of business models in Digital Health: insights and implications for research, industry, and policy

Marina Garofano, Angelo Corallo, Claudio Pascarelli, Chiara Colucci, Alessia Bramanti, Gianvito Mitrano
article en

Abstract

Introduction Digital Health adoption surged during COVID-19, yet sustainable scaling is still hindered by unclear market boundaries and business models that often remain overly technology-centric.Objectives To identify salient properties of Digital Health business models and provide a detailed classification of their components and constituent elements across Digital Health subdomains.Methodology We conducted a systematic literature review (September 2023) across Scopus, Web of Science, and PubMed. From 120 records, we retained 54 studies that reported at least one codable Business Model Canvas (BMC) building block. Data were extracted by multiple reviewers using a structured coding matrix.Results Across the 54 included studies, evidence concentrates on eHealth and telemedicine, while Big Data/AI-enabled solutions are less represented, appearing in 4 and 2 papers, respectively. Most studies emphasize Value Proposition and Customer Segments. By contrast, Customer Relationships and Channels are comparatively underreported, and cross-block interdependencies are rarely explicit.Practical implications This synthesis offers a replicable, fine-grained map to benchmark and design sustainable Digital Health offerings, helping firms better understand value proposition design, customer targeting, partnership configurations, and monetization logics, while supporting policymakers in aligning reimbursement and governance mechanisms with scalable delivery models.

Health Systems
University of Salerno (IT), University of Salento (IT), University of Cagliari (IT)
Partnerships for the goals
Openalex Percentile: Top 6%
Mobile Health and mHealth Applications
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