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01
Overview of awareness and usage
A Bryter survey of over 5,800 consumers across the United States, Germany, Spain, Italy, the UK, Turkey, and South Africa revealed global awareness of digital health tools is high across countries. We found that 91% are aware of digital tools for activity or fitness tracking such as step-counting, distance tracking, and calorie counting.
Over eight-in-ten are aware that digital tools can be used for monitoring vital bodily functions, such as heart rate, and can even go as far as monitoring or diagnosing health conditions. Yet despite this awareness and the fact that the functionality of these tools is widely recognized, we found only a third of individuals globally currently utilize technology for these reasons.
In another Bryter survey of users of digital tools, of those who said they use digital diagnosis / health alert tools (like fall detection and built-in ECG), 37% said they use these to help manage a specific condition and only 16% said the information from this helped their healthcare professional diagnose a condition they have.
Covid-19 as a catalyst for digital health adoption
The Covid-19 pandemic brought about a significant, though not permanent, shift in the way people approach healthcare. With the restrictions on movement, many individuals had to seek medical assistance through digital platforms instead of in-person visits. This led to an increased adoption of digital health solutions such as telemedicine, remote monitoring, and healthcare apps. People were more concerned about their health, and digital health solutions provided them with more accessible and convenient ways to manage their health.
In a survey conducted by Bryter among HCPs and diabetes patients, both groups reported increased use of digital tools since the outbreak of Covid-19: 49% of patients use apps to track their diet and 46% use apps to track their activity more often than they did before.
Covid-19 also saw increased usage of telemedicine tools. Our survey showed that as the pandemic developed, patients’ lack of access to face-to-face care led to rapid growth of alternative communication methods like video consultations, specifically designed for contacting their doctor. These changes had a positive impact on how Type 2 diabetes patients perceive maintaining control: 42% said they are more in control of their condition since the outbreak of Covid-19.
These increases in usage, however, did not have a long-term effect. Telemedicine and remote monitoring have fallen off post-pandemic, and the main barriers to digital health adoption remain. Some of the most exciting potential functionality of digital health tools - such as digital diagnosis - is only possible when personal data is shared. But do consumers trust service providers with their data?
Key takeaways
- Digital health tools are ubiquitous on all smartphones
- Thousands of apps exist to track, measure, and quantify performance, diet, etc., but are mostly passive tools: they are hardly used for disease management and treatment
- The Covid-19 pandemic saw a spike in some digital health components (e.g. virtual meetings with doctors instead of in-person) but this has not been a lasting change
- Still, the digital tools that consumers use form the basis of innovation – from here, further development and adoption stems
02
Sharing personal data. Is this a barrier that can be overcome?
Data from digital health tools can help drive treatment innovation and identify digital biomarkers that can be used to optimize treatment outcomes. But for pharma companies to gain access to this data, they would need to convince consumers to share it with them. Previous research conducted by Bryter indicates that while consumers see the benefits of digital health, they do not trust pharma with their data.
Our survey showed over half of consumers think health data collected from devices will be of great benefit to future generations. Despite this, just 10% of consumers trust pharma with their data, dropping to 6% if the pharma company is based in another country.
However, we also found data privacy has minimal impact on the likelihood of using digital tools that address health needs. We asked respondents how likely they would be to adopt a digital health tool that managed their condition from a health provider, in two hypothetical scenarios: a) if minimal data was stored, none of it shared with a third party, and b) if most or all available data was stored and shared with a third party. The results were similar between the two scenarios - 68% would be likely to adopt the tool with minimal data stored, and 67% would be likely to adopt even if most or all data was stored.
There’s an indication here that barriers tend to disappear when you provide something that consumers actually want. Our situational choice experiment, which tests digital health tool adoption in conjunction with provider and brand, goes on to demonstrate this further.
Key takeaways
- Consumers acknowledge the usefulness of sharing data. But they have concerns
- To overcome those concerns, they need to see a personal benefit
- Asking the right question reveals a surprising result – regarding a digital tool that manages their health condition, the same number would adopt whether their data is stored and shared or not
03
Moving forward: digital health based on consumer needs
What is the situational choice experiment?
The situational choice experiment is a novel type of conjoint technique. Unlike traditional conjoint, where respondents can only indicate whether they would use a product or not, situational choice experiment allows us to determine usage by organization or brand. For this study, we used the technique to determine from which organization, if any, consumers would be most likely to use different digital tools. This involved showing consumers different sets of digital health tools, which comprised 4 components:
- Medical priority (what it’s for)
- What it does
- Who it’s for
- Data privacy
For each tool that was presented, respondents were shown a choice of possible providers:
- Pharma company
- Health provider (physicians, health system, hospital)
- Tech company (e.g. Google, Apple)
- Retail pharmacy (e.g. Walmart)
Respondents were asked to select their preferred provider, while also having the option to select none. Data from the exercise was fed into Bryter’s in-house formula to calculate preference shares across organizations. The key output is a simulator which can be used to model multiple permutations by product features, organization and/or consumer profile.
The research found that there is an overall appetite for digital health tools, with consumers picking an organization for a tool in around nine-in-10 cases. Additionally, organizations have their best opportunities across different medical priorities:
- For pharma, the best opportunity lies in providing a tool that is for prevention
- For health providers, the best opportunity lies in providing a tool that is for diagnosing illness and disease
- For tech companies, the best opportunity lies in providing a tool that is for managing/tracking/controlling symptoms
- For retail pharmacies, the best opportunity lies in providing a tool that is for prevention
Looking at the tool that has the best opportunity for pharma (prevention) we see that, overall, 16% would use this tool if it was provided by pharma, rising to 25% in Brazil and dropping to 11% in Canada.
In contrast, consumers are three times more likely to use the tool if it came from a health provider. A similar pattern is seen when looking at the tools that present the best opportunity for tech companies and retail pharmacies – those would be the preferred providers for around one-in-10 of consumers, but for the majority the preferred provider is always a health provider.
These findings suggest an opportunity for collaboration between pharma and health providers in the provision of digital health tools. Indeed we already see this happening: Geisinger has partnered with several pharma companies to develop digital health solutions for their patients. These include Asthma App Suite, developed with AstraZeneca, Pain Watch developed with Purdue, and MedTrue, developed with Merck. Read more about the role of pharma in DTx here.
Key takeaways
- Data privacy is one challenge that pharma would need to overcome, but there are others
- Digital health tools must meet the needs of consumers
- There also must be an appetite for certain types of digital tools coming from pharma, as opposed to other providers
- Bryter’s situational choice experiment sheds light on what consumers want from each provider, and reveals opportunities for collaborations that can lead to wider adoption
04
The future: Digital therapeutics as a solution for the entire patient journey
Digital therapeutics (DTx) are a new type of clinically proven therapeutic interventions that directly addresses patient needs. By combining evidence-based software applications with data analytics and AI, DTx provides patients with an individualized healthcare experience focused on the management of their entire patient journey. These solutions empower patients to take control over their health by providing tools for remote monitoring, self-management and personalized coaching. DTx also helps healthcare professionals by providing them with better data that can improve patient outcomes. As a needs-based therapy, DTx enables more effective, cost-efficient care that is tailored to the individual needs of each patient. Read more about how DTx differs to other digital health tools here.
DTx must be clinically approved based on clinical trials published in peer-reviewed journals, demonstrating clinically meaningful outcomes. The clinical evidence and real-world outcomes are the threshold that distinguishes DTx from digital medicine and digital health.
The FDA has approved more than 40 Prescription DTx since Pear Therapeutics obtained the first approval in 2017. They address a variety of disorders known to be impacted by behavior modification:
- Substance use disorder
- Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)
- Chronic insomnia
- Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)–driven traumatic nightmares
- Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
- Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)
- Reduction of pain in patients (18 years and over) with chronic lower back pain (indication)
- Amblyopia in children aged 4 to 7 years
- Abdominal pain associated with IBS in adults
Read a more detailed overview of DTx in diabetes and mental health here.
Although relatively new in the digital health arena, DTx is showing the potential to be an offering that can work synergistically with medical solutions, and in some instances replace them.
According to a Bryter survey of US and Europe-based physicians (PCPs and cardiorenal specialists in nephrology, diabetes, cardiology, and hematology), 73% believe that DTx can provide data that will help physicians better manage their patients, 67% say it can allow patients to better manage their conditions, 64% say DTx can increase patient treatment adherence, and 63% say it can improve patient outcomes. Physicians also express a strong desire for pharma companies to develop DTx - 68% say it would be appealing.
Digital therapeutics have specifically been gaining traction in certain specialties, like mental health. Another Bryter survey revealed that while a majority of US psychiatrists have recommended telehealth and mobile health tools to their adult mental disorder patients, almost four-in-10 have also already recommended DTx. Read more about the adoption of DTx among patients with mental disorders here.
There still are some obstacles in the way of widespread adoption of DTx. According to our survey, those currently revolve around education - 61% said that educating patients, and 46% said that educating physicians themselves how to use DTx are obstacles. Read more about barriers to DTx adoption here.
Overall, digital therapeutics utilize a patient-focused approach to convert the patient experience into a digital format, which is customized to the patient's unique requirements and preferences. In essence, they are changing the way healthcare is delivered and offering improved results for both patients and healthcare providers. After years of technological advancements making gradual shifts in the convergence of digital technologies with healthcare, DTx has the potential to bring together all the different components, resulting in more widespread adoption of digital health.
- We saw that digital health tools are generally used passively, with consumers not exploring their full potential
- The answer to more widespread adoption may lie within digital therapeutics, a new set of interventional tools that can help manage and treat disease
- Digital therapeutics is a system with the potential to manage patients through the whole patient digital journey
Key takeouts
- Awareness of digital health tools, both for activity or fitness tracking as well as monitoring vital bodily functions or diagnosing health conditions is very high. However, usage of digital tools is relatively low, leaving an unfulfilled potential for widespread adoption.
- Consumers agree that health data collected from devices can be of great benefit, but still state concerns around the sharing of personal data. Yet in practice, this has little impact on actual adoption of digital health tools - a majority would still adopt a digital health tool that managed their condition from a health provider, whether it stored and shared all their data or not. They are willing to share data if they see the benefit.
- There is an appetite for digital adoption among consumers, and different organizations (pharma companies, health providers, tech companies, retail pharmacies) have their best opportunities across different medical priorities. This suggests an opportunity for collaboration between pharma and health providers in the provision of digital health.
- Digital therapeutics (DTx), which are software solutions that have evidence-based therapeutic capabilities, can provide patients with an individualized healthcare experience focused on the management of their entire patient journey. DTx may be the next breakthrough in digital health, but there is work to be done: patients need to understand the potential applications of this new treatment option and clinicians need to learn how to best utilize it.
- Contact Bryter for more insight into Digital Health