Digital health has been evolving rapidly in recent years, with many medical technology companies realising that the benefits of connected patient care and remote patient monitoring are of great value to both patients and physicians. Digital health could allow patients greater access to their own health information and could offer physicians more information to make informed decisions for patient care and personalise treatment options for patients through remote monitoring. Despite these benefits, the space still struggles with concerns about patient privacy and reimbursement options.
At the MedTech Conference 2024, held in Toronto from 15 to 17 October, a major point of discussion was the potential of digital health offerings to improve the standard of care. Manufacturers and proponents of digital health products shared their thoughts on what digital health usage could provide, which includes measuring patient indicators, such as sleep or stress, to better inform primary care physicians of patient health, or providing a live record of at-home drug or device usage to physicians without the need for office visits.
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However, conference panellists also stressed the hurdles facing digital health. A major problem for digital health is reimbursement, especially in the US. Currently, digital health does not fit into the US insurance system, as treatment is intended to occur within a hospital or doctor’s office. Additionally, programs such as Medicare often undervalue the costs of digital health treatments, despite these options providing great value to the patient. Another problem facing the digital health market is the initial cost of any digital health app, which patients expect to be inexpensive and in line with other, non-medical apps.
The digital health market is a rapidly growing sector within medical devices. GlobalData databases are tracking 6,269 digital health products currently on the market worldwide, with an additional 4,612 products in various stages of development in various countries. All these products are facing or will face similar challenges as outlined by industry leaders at the conference.
Although digital health has incredible potential to modernise and improve patient care, it has evolved faster than the industry and reimbursement have been able to. As such, more widespread use of these devices is dependent on whether the industry is willing to incorporate the use of such devices into existing treatment plans, and if reimbursement policies are updated to include digital health.
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