Driving awareness, education, and accessibility
The digital therapeutics (DTx) ecosystem has undergone an accelerated period of advancement over the past couple of years. Currently, DTx, which can be used as a standalone therapy or in conjunction with more conventional treatments like pharmacological or in-person therapy, is being developed for the prevention and management of several diseases including diabetes, congestive heart failure, Alzheimer's disease, anxiety, and depression among others.
In 2023 and beyond, DTx is set to become a true medical alternative that will utilize communications-based technologies, apps, and software to improve patient outcomes and help reduce healthcare costs. As such, regulators, payers, and providers will be forced to reconsider their approaches to ensure they are fit for purpose.
While regulatory and technological progress is being made, improvement with reimbursement pathways is trailing due to the demand for real world evidence (RWE) generation for DTx apps to prove value. In addition to the need for RWE to demonstrate safety and effectiveness, there will be a push for DTx education for providers to promote usage in 2023. For example, although regulatory pathways are currently integrated with market access pathways in Germany, DTx adoption rates are low due to a lack of awareness and education[1].
There has been broad and increasing support for the Access to Prescription Digital Therapeutics Act legislation, which will push for Medicare and Medicaid coverage of prescription digital therapeutics (i.e., software applications that are used to prevent, manage, or treat medical conditions). Accessibility will be crucial to demonstrating the value of DTx and, without Medicare coverage, only a small portion of patient populations will benefit from treatments, inhibiting advancements towards health equity[2].
Anh Duong, Pooja Upadhyay
What's next in data and intelligence?
[1] Montalvo, M., Brewer, J, MD PhD, Goldsack, J., Khan, F, Esq. (2022, November 14). Digital Therapeutics Playing the Long Game. HLTH 2022, Las Vegas, NV, United States.
[2] Molnar, A., Oldstone, L., Crosland, E. (2022, November 13). DTx in Capitol Hill. HLTH 2022, Las Vegas, NV, United States.