i3 - January/February 2018 - 18

Tech

By Susan Schreiner

C 4 T R E N DS

Health in a Connected World

 H 

ealthcare systems are grappling with the immense challenges
of improving care and clinical outcomes, expanding access
and outreach, as well as improving care management - while
optimizing efficiencies and cost, including shifting payment models.

A new category is emerging
that could be a game-changing
approach to healthcare.
Disruptors are developing new
access points for healthcare
to move beyond the pill to
a "healthware" (healthcare and
software) approach to deliver
better outcomes, improve
access and lower costs.

The Next Big Thing

The hottest sector is Digital
Therapeutics (DT). It's about
solutions and platforms that
deliver clinically-relevant therapies through digital tools and
apps. It's like having a health
coach in your pocket 24/7.
Innovative startups,
healthcare providers and
payers are pushing targeted
health and wellness messages
when and where needed -
often through an app on a
patient's smartphone. Also
known as software-as-a-drug,
DT is gaining attention as an
alternative or enhancement of
drug or in-person treatment.
In some cases, it could replace
medical treatments.
Digital Therapeutics can
amplify doctors' care. It's
a tool to help people track their
health, change behaviors by
adopting healthier lifestyles or
motivate implementation of
the ones that are most beneficial to their condition. It is
used to treat preventive and
costly chronic diseases without
the side effects of drugs and
to provide outcome-based
18

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018

A Few
DT Startups
at CES
* Fitbit: Fitbit (above) developed a diabetes management
platform with Medtronic.
The One Drop app helps users
understand how their physical
activity contributes to blood
glucose management.
* MyKronoz ZeTime:
This hybrid smartwatch
includes a sleep and activity
tracking sensor that monitors the user's heart rate.
* Spire: The smallest
disposable micro-sensor
tag attaches to your clothes
and has advanced algorithms that provide real-time
health guidance for sleep
and daily activity.

2018

Health
at CES
2018

reimbursement while bending
the healthcare cost curve.
Recently, a group of digital
health startups launched the
Digital Therapeutics Alliance
(DTA) to advance adoption
and integration of digital therapeutic solutions. Members
will collaborate to develop rigorous clinical studies and pilot
programs, industry standards
for new protocols of care, and
shared data repositories.
More consumer tech companies are focusing on the
clinical provider space, or
repositioning themselves for
payer wellness and reimbursement programs. While this is a
more difficult market to penetrate than direct to consumers,
it offers tremendous rewards.
The Digital Therapeutics market is expected to reach $9 billion by 2025, up from about
$1.7 billion in 2016, according
to Grand View Research.

Two Driving Trends

Two key trends are fueling this
growth, based on the need to
reduce healthcare spending.
The first is the shift from
a physician-centric universe to
a consumer-centric world.
This is also about consumer
empowerment to manage
costly diseases like diabetes
and obesity, as well as the

opportunities and need for continuous monitoring through the
IoT. The second trend is the
largest growing global demographic: aging populations.
Unless contained, chronic disease management will reach
crisis magnitude.

CTA and PCHAlliance

CTA's Health and Fitness
Technology Division announced
a new, strategic collaboration
with the Personal Connected
Health Alliance (PCHAlliance)
around Digital Therapeutics,
at the Connected Health
Conference in Boston. This collaboration aims to understand
the demand, adoption and market trends related to Digital
Therapeutics among patients
and health care professionals
as well as from technology and
pharmaceutical companies.
"We are very pleased
to collaborate with CTA,
and engage our respective
communities to help define
and shape this emerging
approach for treating disease
through digital technologies,
which can be a substitute
for traditional drug therapies
or a complement to enhance
the effectiveness of drug
therapies," says Rich Scarfo,
vice president of PCHAlliance.
"One example is the use
of virtual reality as an alternative to pain medication,
demonstrating its potential
to help address the opioid
epidemic in the U.S."

ON JANUARY 11, A HALF-DAY WORKSHOP, DISRUPTIVE INNOVATIONS IN HEALTHCARE,
FEATURES THREE TOPICS: 1) Global healthcare technology - how access
and delivery is changing health. 2) Personal health and the role of technology.
3) Pharmaceuticals - can technology help replace them?

I T I S I N N O VAT I O N
http://www.cta.tech
i3 - January/February 2018

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