Over the past month, our HealthXL community members discussed getting virtual care solutions into physicians and care teams workflows, scalable business models for oncology digital health solutions, and the cost of digital health solutions, among other topics. We’ve put together a snapshot of five expert insights from these meetings.

‍

#1 On achieving adoption of digital health solutions by HCPs: Digital health solutions need to have an incentive for all stakeholders, from patients to providers/health systems as well as payers to ensure sufficient uptake. Monetary incentives in the form of reimbursements may increase healthcare professionals (HCPs) engagement however these are often insignificant, therefore perhaps the most pronounced incentive is a reduction in HCPs workload. Similarly, lack of trust in patient-procured data is a major issue for HCPs, and can be seen as a key reason why many of them don’t trust data gathered from wearables and remote patient monitoring tools. Ensuring credibility of the devices through evidence-based research and endorsement by a governing body could increase HCP engagement.

‍

#2 On adapting your business model to fit your product: It is important not to rush into any one business model. Pivoting between business models can help identify which route a digital health company will ultimately want to take but it is important that while your strategy may change, your product doesn’t. Your product may need to adapt to certain aspects of strategies, but its overall impact and effect should not. Get data and move onto the next strategy, if you need to go sideways then do, you need to find the best fit for your product.

‍

‍

#3 On winning over stakeholders: Every product needs a clear value proposition for it's target stakeholders. To partner with Pharma, it would be necessary that the product/solution can show ROI, commercial value that is aligned with Pharma's goals. Stakeholders are where the money comes from, and you need to show them how much value you can bring. Building that data early on for all stakeholders will be a great help when looking to partner. Similarly, you must win over the patient, having data of patient approval and potentially having patients to support your solution can be beneficial to potential partnerships.

‍

#4 On understanding the true cost of bringing a digital health solution to market: Pharma companies tend to underestimate the costs of bringing digital health solutions into the market. They may understand there are infrastructure costs but they don’t appreciate the maintenance costs of the software and the content needed to continuously drive patient engagement. Most times, the cost is unclear at the launch. It is important to understand the cost profiles from the product inception all the way through to the maintenance post launch, and charge accordingly with the value created.

‍

#5 On factors which influence pricing in digital health: In digital health, pricing is fundamentally driven by three considerations: 1) value (clinical outcomes, user engagement, risk mitigation, etc); 2) economics (build costs, maintenance costs, P&L ownership); 3) competition (other digital offerings, digital alternatives, user attention). Factors which drive digital health value include indicators of user satisfaction such as active users, NPS or app feedback and positive clinical outcomes such as improvements in quality of life and workflow efficiencies. Ultimately, who you are selling your product to becomes a critical part of the puzzle.

‍

Want to join the conversation? Check out our platform for upcoming meetings and events.

‍