Covid-19, Innovazione Tecnologica e i nuovi scenari dell'assistenza (a distanza)

The advent of the pandemic has renewed the centrality of health equity in healthcare and shown the urgency of reflecting on the factors that affect healthcare accessibility. In particular, there is a need to integrate the analysis on healthcare inequalities with the new disparities induced by the digitalization of healthcare. The article starts by highlighting three critical issues faced by the Italian NHS during the Covid-19 health emergency. After that, an overview of the main attempts made by the Italian Government to stimulate a digital transition of healthcare-delivery is provided. Finally, the interplay of conventional inequalities, digital divides and health literacy is assessed from a critical point of view and the risk of a two-speed right to health is emphasized. © 2021 Franco Angeli Edizioni. All rights reserved.