What is Digital Health, Digital Medicine, and Digital Therapeutics?

With ubiquitous access to the internet, mobile devices, smart TVs, and other technologies, technology has played a huge role in society during the last few decades. With the increased adoption and usage of software technology, new and novel solutions to improve health, health care delivery, and patient involvement are becoming available.

 

Smartphones and associated gadgets have altered how we go about our daily lives, engage with one another, and maintain our health in various ways. 

 

Smartphone applications, smart sensors, and other emerging technologies have opened the road for healthcare to be transformed through technology. People are increasingly referring to this as "digital health." 

 

Clinicians employ digital health devices to track patient outcomes, perform telemedicine visits, and treat conditions that aren't well-served by traditional pharmaceuticals. But what exactly does this phrase imply? What role may it possibly have in healthcare?

 

Also Read | Emerging Technologies Revolutionizing Healthcare in 2022

 

What is Digital Health?

 

The intersection of digital technologies, daily life, and health care is termed Digital Health. The goal of digital health is to improve healthcare delivery efficiency while also making medication more personalized and precise. Information and communication technology are utilized to help persons who are undergoing treatment deal with their health issues. 

 

Telemedicine, web-based analysis, email, mobile phones and applications, text messages, wearable gadgets, and clinic or remote monitoring sensors are all examples of digital health solutions and services.

 

Computing systems, networking, software, and sensors are all used in digital health technologies for health care and other applications. These technologies can be used for a variety of purposes, ranging from general health to medicinal applications. 

 

They include technologies that are intended to be used as medical products, in medical products, as companion diagnostics, or as a supplement to other medical products (devices, drugs, and biologics). They can also be used to test or develop medical devices.

 

Some digital health products retain information about your health, such as:

 

1.  Technologies that are used by users

 

2.  Information Technology in Health Care

 

3.  Health-related information for consumers

 

Other digital health products convey information about one's health, such as:

 

1.  Telemedicine

 

2.  Software that assists with decision-making

 

3.  Clinical care administration

 

There are numerous advantages to digital health, including:

 

1.  Improving your healthcare provider's communication.

 

2.  Instead of waiting for an appointment, share health data (e.g., blood pressure, blood sugar, and temperature) with your healthcare practitioner from home.

 

3.  Assisting healthcare providers in better tailoring treatments and judgments.

 

4. Increasing people's access to healthcare practitioners and services

 

5. Cost-cutting in healthcare

 

Watch this | What is the future of digital health?

---

---

Is the FDA in charge of digital health?

 

Because digital health is so wide, several regulatory bodies, including the FDA, may be engaged. Many wellness applications and devices on the market are not regulated by the FDA. However, if a product or app makes a medical claim about its technology, the FDA will become involved.

 

The FDA, for example, may not investigate an app that claims to help you manage your sleep by recording your sleeping habits. In contrast, if an app claims to be able to diagnose or treat insomnia, the FDA will want to look into the evidence.

 

Also Read | Internet of Bodies

 

What is Digital Medicine?

 

Digital medicine is a field that deals with the application of technology as measurement and intervention tools in the service of human health. High-quality technology and software underpin digital medical solutions, which assist the practice of medicine in general, including treatment, recuperation, disease prevention, and health promotion for individuals and populations.

 

Digital medicine is a subject that encompasses both wide professional skills and obligations related to the use of digital instruments. The goal of digital medicine is to generate evidence to support the usage of these technologies. 

 

To improve patient care and health outcomes, digital medicine solutions can be used alone or in combination with medications, biologics, devices, and other items. Through high-quality, safe, and effective measures and data-driven interventions, digital medicine provides patients and healthcare professionals with sophisticated and accessible tools to manage a wide range of illnesses.

 

Watch this | The Future of Digital Medicine

---

---

The majority of digital medicine solutions do health assessments, such as:

 

1. The use of digital diagnostics

 

2. Clinical outcome evaluations via electronic means

 

3. Patient monitoring from afar

 

These measurements are used by other digital medicine devices to intervene. Certain digital companions, for example, can make healthcare decisions.

 

Who engages in Digital Medicine?

 

Individuals who work in traditional medicine, such as pharmacists, physicians, nurses, and health navigators. Medical researchers, ranging from physician investigators to experts investigating behavioral and public health, are also included.

 

We also recognise the patient's increasing role in the practise of digital medicine. Patients will play a far more active role in digital medicine as digital tools allow for decentralization of care outside of the hospital, clinic, and lab. The citizen scientist's involvement will be expanded as a result of the use of digital tools in research.

 

Also Read | Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare

 

What is Digital Therapeutics?

 

DTx is a new category of apps that aid in the treatment of diseases by altering patient behavior and monitoring them remotely, resulting in improved and long-term health outcomes. A subset of digital medicine is Digital therapeutics (DTx). These programs are designed to produce positive results. 

 

It is a term used to describe technologies that are used to prevent, manage, or treat a particular ailment or disease. People can utilize DTx products on their own or in combination with other treatments.

 

Clinical evidence of the advantages and safety of DTx products is required. DTx goods are certified and regulated by government bodies. This is due to the fact that DTx goods have a higher risk. Regulation ensures that things function as planned.

 

DTx does not take the position of a medical professional. However, they can assist a clinician in making more individualized healthcare recommendations. People would, for example, continue to see their doctors on a regular basis. DTx, on the other hand, may alter their therapies or medicine dosages between appointments.

 

Software is used in digital therapeutics products to prevent, treat, or manage a certain ailment. This includes the following:

 

1. Diabetes management programs based on behavior

 

2. Self-care programs for the treatment of mental illnesses

 

3. The use of AI to persuade people to take their medications

 

Also Read | How are Digital Technologies used in Clinical Trials?

 

Future of Digital Therapeutics

 

As digital therapies gain traction in the digital health sector, strong criteria are already in place in several areas, most notably the United States and the European Union, requiring them to fulfill specific degrees or amounts of rigor in their design. 

 

While different levels of regulatory monitoring exist for digital therapies, they should all reach similar levels of quality control — a company cannot just claim to be a digital therapeutic.

 

If a pharmaceutical business is building a telehealth platform, for example, there is definitely a place for it in digital health, but it shouldn't pretend to be a digital therapeutic, and the same goes for any pure-play diagnostic or adherence solutions. Such items will not be able to compete with digital therapeutics unless they include a software-generated therapeutic intervention.

 

Also Read | A Note On Quantum Computing in Drug Discovery

 

Watch this | The Case for Digital Therapeutics

---

---

The delivery of healthcare is growing increasingly reliant on digital health. To address healthcare demands throughout the pandemic, we've seen a recent growth in digital health, digital medicine, and digital pharmaceuticals. 

 

However, we should expect more research and data to support these new technologies even after the pandemic has passed. Digital health is here to stay, and it will aid people in their personal healthcare journeys.