Effect of technology-supported measures used for care transition decisions for chronic disease patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis

To evaluate the impact of digital interventions used to support care transitions on health outcomes and hospital costs compared with usual clinical care for patients with chronic diseases, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis. A systematic search of Cochrane, ACM, Embase, MEDLINE, and PsycINFO was performed from database inception until October 6, 2023. Meta-analysis was conducted for hospitalization outcomes, mortality rates, and cost effectiveness, while quality of life and qualitative outcomes were summarized narratively. The review included 25 studies reporting outcomes for 29,724 patients, with 14 studies eligible for meta-analysis. The meta-analysis showed that digital interventions were associated with small but statistically significant reduction in hospitalization rates (SMD = −0.07, 95% CI −0.13 to −0.01, P = .02) and a statistically significant reduction in mortality (SMD = 0.70, 95% CI 0.58 to 0.85, P = .0003), favoring digital interventions. A positive trend was also observed for improvements in quality of life and reductions in care costs, although evidence was not conclusive. Digital supported transitional care interventions appear to improve clinical outcomes, reduce costs, and enhance quality of life. Future research should focus on digitalizing established care transition models and evaluating technology’s added value for effectiveness and user satisfaction.