Exploring Digital Therapeutics: A Solution for the Geriatric Population

The world that we live in today has wrapped us with the prevalence of several chronic health diseases like diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular diseases, and mental disorders, leaving us no other choice than relying on digital solutions, a much reliable solution especially for the elderly people. And considering the fast spread of the new Omicron variant, protecting the geriatric population and taking care of them always has become of utmost importance for the families. As per a report by Research Dive, the global digital therapeutics market is expected to register a revenue of $12,695.60 million by 2028 at a CAGR of 20.0%, the growth and development of the market seems bright and promising. The utilization of digital therapeutics has surged rapidly in the healthcare sector and has become a reliable solution to effectively treat medical disorders or diseases.

Let’s dive into some basics of this booming concept in the healthcare arena and the challenges the participating companies face.

What are Digital Therapeutics?

Digital therapeutics are products that offer evidence-based medical solutions that are directed by high quality software to both prevent and treat medical diseases. Commonly abbreviated as DTx, these interventions help patients in self-managing symptoms to enhance their quality of life along with other clinical concerns.

These products use digital devices like mobiles, sensors, apps, technologies like virtual reality, Internet of Things, and many other gadgets to evaluate the behavioral changes of patients. The reason why digital therapeutics is considered as one of the most innovative approaches in the medical and healthcare sectors is that the software provide personalized healthcare services that perfectly fit one’s health needs.

Challenges in Digital Therapeutics

Although digital therapeutics is gaining immense momentum, the participating companies often fall victim to some difficult hurdles like approval of the regulatory bodies, clinical verification, approval from the physician, etc. Let’s take a look at some challenges of digital therapeutics.

1. Clearance and Approval

For any medical product to enter the market, it first needs to be examined and approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) agency.

The FDA sees if the product is similar to the existing products in the market for assurance of not posing any threats or risks to the consumers. For this, the products undergo rigorous safety and efficacy processes. And due to stringent protocols of the agency, many times such proposed medical solutions fail to pass because of some rectifiable minor loopholes.

2. Clinical Confirmation

Digital therapeutics companies test their products to verify the efficiency by comparing the results with different standards or metrics.

Generally, the clinical validation is a bare minimum requirement for verifying any DTx product or service since its value often gets overshadowed by the hype regarding that particular company. This poses a potential risk for the digital therapeutics market.

3. Consumer Acceptance and Reimbursement

Despite clearances and FDA approvals, consumer acceptance and reimbursement play a vital role in the overall market viability. For this, many DTx companies directly collaborate with pharma organizations to support distribution channels and insurance reimbursements for the consumers’ benefits. However, some companies rather opt for pharmacy benefit plans or benefit programs, thus sidelining the payers’ benefits.

4. Physician Adoption

Another hurdle of digital therapeutics is the physician adoption; some major approaches are required for DTx and pharmaceutical firms to encourage physicians to adopt and prescribe their products.

Targeting physicians as a part of their marketing campaigns is the optimal solution, however, not many organizations are opting for this solution, thus hampering their company’s recognition and viability.

Disadvantages of DTx Products

DTX services provide ample merits to patients like reduced costs due to reduced hospital visits, no toxicity or side effects, more time and focus on monitoring and treating diseases, etc. But these also have some downfalls to their pathways. Here are a few mentioned disadvantages of digital therapeutics.

1. Compromised privacy
2. No guarantee for the accuracy of the treatment
3. Compromised cybersecurity of patients due to constant utilization

Final Thought

All the above-mentioned facts about the DTx environment prove why such digital interventions are the optimal solution for diagnosing and treating medical diseases. However, manufacturing companies must be aware of some possible challenges and look for creating alternative and innovative ideas for the disadvantages they pose.

About the Author(s)

Princy A. J

Princy holds a bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from the prestigious Tamil Nadu Dr. M.G.R. University at Chennai, India. After a successful academic record, she pursued her passion for writing. A thorough professional and enthusiastic writer, she enjoys writing on various categories and advancements in the global industries. She plays an instrumental role in writing about current updates, news, blogs, and trends.