Navigating the Intersection of Health and Technology: A Patient’s Perspective, Part 2

In part 1 of this interview, posted here in December, we spoke with one of DTA’s patient advisors about their patient journey, how digital therapeutics impacted their patient experience, and how to educate patients so they can adopt DTx solutions into their own care plans. In part 2, we discuss what actionable steps the Digital Therapeutics Alliance can take to increase awareness among patients, clinicians, and payors.

Interview

1- What can DTA do to promote awareness among patients, clinicians and payers?

Patient Advisor: 

Among patients:

Send DTA and digital therapeutic company representatives to regional and local community events where at-risk and medically needy patients, and their loved ones, will be present.

• Examples of such venues may include health fairs, free clinic days, but also heritage festivals, pow wows, craft fairs and other live events.
• Have gratis or “swag” to distribute (labeled bottled water, squeeze balls, phone pop sockets, etc.) as well as literature (including questions to bring up with a health provider to evaluate the appropriateness of a digital therapeutic).
• Perform live demos of the therapeutic to demonstrate its ease of use and safety.
• Be prepared to answer questions about privacy, data, costs, etc.

Among healthcare providers and payees:

Similar to the above, consider having an actual patient who has direct experience with the therapeutic who can speak to its efficacy and quality from personal long-term experience.

The target demographic should be medical conferences, continuing education seminars, med schools and/or teaching hospitals and research events, insurance events, etc.

• Adjust educational literature to assess whether a patient is a solid candidate for a specific DTx.
• Assess whether a DTx is comparable (or superior) to an already established traditional or pharmacological therapeutic, or if it should be recommended in conjunction.
• For providers: offer sign-up sheets to send a representative of the therapeutic to clinics, hospitals, private practices, etc. to come and speak with patients.

In all groups:

• Emphasize a human-first desire to incorporate into the community and to be responsive to live and real-time human needs.
• Prioritize patients’ freedom to choose and the goal of connecting to their well-being and support network.
• Bear in mind that commercial/non-medically backed/non-prescription “therapeutic” alternatives have notorious reputations for being vague, one-size-fits all, exploitative, and antisocial (e.g., from having little to no live human element, or having the human element be corrupted in some capacity by overbooking, hiring untrained providers, poorly matching users to their providers, etc). Aim to be the opposite of this in every way possible!

2- What insights would you like to provide that we haven’t covered?

Patient advisor: I recently learned that early DTx solutions were being floated as early as the late 90s/early 00s! I think that, although the specialized nature of my needs would have put me on the map as a good candidate for some of these interventions, a lot of what was available to me had to do with income, budgeting, medicaid, and generational and cultural divide. My parents are boomers, and while my mom enthusiastically embraced the internet, she has a strong conservative religious leaning that makes her resistant to emerging technology as it relates to medicine. This is definitely a demographic that is at high risk with all kinds of odds stacked against reaching them.

Conclusion:

As we navigate the intersection of health and technology, this interview offers a profound perspective on the transformative power of digital therapeutics. From a complex patient journey to the potential of bridging healthcare gaps, the story resonates with hope, resilience, and a vision for a more inclusive and connected future in healthcare.