Recent advances in digital technologies over the past two decades have created unparalleled opportunities to positively transform the medical sector, such as web platforms, mobile devices and smart wearables (known as the “Internet of Things”), artificial intelligence and big data analytics. Digital health offers the prospect of new diagnostic and therapeutic tools and services for better, safer, patient-centered and more easily accessible care, including at a distance, while better informing and empowering patients, and reducing costs. However, the advent of technology also brings its own set of challenges that must be addressed.

While many fields of medicine have rapidly embraced recent advances in digital health and are devoting a significant amount of resources to it for research and development, pediatric emergency medicine is still struggling to harness the considerable opportunities presented by digital health. At present, much of digital health used in pediatrics is off-label, relying on repurposed adult technologies that may not meet children's unique needs and supported by little or no evidence in this population.

This thesis outlines the author's research focus by presenting some of his contributions to the development and evaluation of digital health services and tools tailored for pediatric emergency medicine. The first study describes an interoperable digital health information system aimed at empowering patients throughout their journey to the pediatric emergency department and enabling the latter to anticipate their arrival, facilitate their visit, and enhance their follow-up. The next two trials focus on the trial-and-error development of a digital tool and its evaluation to increase adherence to pediatric cardiopulmonary resuscitation algorithms. Finally, the last two trials are part of an evaluation of a mobile application (app) to reduce pediatric medication errors, which began with an initial pilot study and expanded nationally to both a large-scale multicenter study in the hospital setting and another in the distinctly different prehospital setting. The thesis also aims to situate these projects in both a historical and current context, followed by a discussion of how they open up new and exciting perspectives in the pediatric field.