Corey Amann, MD, MBA’s Post

Super interesting to see the conclusions of this analysis on digital health tech solutions for diabetes.

Well that is surprising in the not good way.

A very informative post was written by Erin Brodwin about the newly published report from Peterson Health Technology Institute (PHTI) regarding the effectiveness of Digital Diabetes Management Tools. Although the headline-grabbing summary is that these tools "do not deliver meaningful clinical benefits, and they increase healthcare spending relative to usual care", I believe there are some additional compelling points made later in the report that developers of these platforms need to strongly consider. 1. A strong, collaborative relationship is needed between the patient and provider to effectively manage chronic conditions. The developers of these platforms need to ensure they design their solutions so they are complementary to patient care and integrate within providers' clinical workflows. 2. Providers are seeking, and will continue to seek, outcome-based contracting arrangements with performance guarantees as they begin reevaluating their digital health strategies. This comports with what I've heard from healthcare leaders. That is the provider/patient relationship is key to driving the adoption of these tools. If providers see little value in the use of these platforms (i.e., clinical and economic value), they are unlikely to integrate them into their clinical practices and recommend them to their patients. Accordingly, patients trust their healthcare providers and are more likely to adopt and compliantly use digital health tools their providers recommend and which their providers use to manage patients' chronic conditions.

I've been looking forward to the reports from Peterson Health Technology Institute (PHTI), and this report does not disappoint! Whether you agree or disagree with the findings, buyers should look at their performance guarantees. Peterson Health Technology Institute (PHTI) recommends that buyers "Refocus performance guarantees on patients with the highest HbA1c — As discussed above, people with higher starting HbA1c who are newly starting insulin are likely to experience greater benefits from the use of these technologies. Populations that have high HbA1c are also more likely to be low-income and disproportionately Black and Hispanic. While some contracts with digital solutions include performance guarantees, they are often not focused on specific subpopulations. Purchasers should define meaningful clinical and economic impact targets that emphasize success in these important subpopulations who may be more likely to benefit from the solution."

In real world use, I don't think anyone anticipated that these types of solutions would work for all users and generate a specific ROI due to lower health emergencies. Type 2 diabetes is hard. Behavior change is hard. Life gets messy and complicated even with the best of intentions and support. This report looks for signals indicating how payers could use these solutions effectively. We're reporting on the findings soon OPEN MINDS Circle Be ready! Andrea Mander, MAS-PHM thoughts?

PHTI is filling a critical evidence gap in digital health evaluations with its assessment of digital diabetes management tools. Our executive director Caroline Pearson discussed key findings and the path forward for payers, providers, and innovators. Watch the webinar recording:  #DigitalHealth #DiabetesManagement #HealthcareInnovation #HealthTech

ICYMI: Our executive director, Caroline Pearson, discussed key findings from PHTI's assessment of digital diabetes management tools and presented a path forward for payers, providers, and innovators. Watch the webinar recording: #DigitalHealth #DiabetesManagement #HealthcareInnovation #HealthTech

Helpful analysis and insight for purchasers of member-facing clinical programs and services. According to a new report from the Peterson Health Technology Institute (PHTI). Digital diabetes management tools do not deliver meaningful health benefits that justify their cost. Evidence-based assessments like this one fill a critical gap in the search for and adoption of high-value healthcare technologies. PHTI’s assessments help payers, providers, and innovators know the evidence behind the available tools and recommendations for a path forward. Read the full report:

I'm sure anyone who follows the news in the digital health space would have seen this recent publication by the Peterson Health Technology Institute (PHTI) and its critical assessment of a number diabetes digital health products available in the US market. It will be interesting to see how the seven companies covered in the study respond to the findings. A few things stood out to me that are relevant to the overall digital health space: > Long term results and sustained patient engagement: Its a no-brainer that significant ROIs can be generated by products that can reduce adverse events and hospitalisation in patients with chronic diseases. Digital health companies that offer long term care solutions targeting chronic diseases have the potential to offer this benefit. The PHTI report unfortunately picked out one of the major banes of the digital health space: it is difficult for digital health companies to claim long term benefits without the clinical data to prove this. On top of this long term results cannot be claimed without confirming long term patient engagement. This has been a major struggle for digital health companies that provide supportive or preventative care products that claim to offer long term benefits, it is extremely difficult and costly to generate clinical data to support long term outcomes as they can take many years to produce. > Value based care models: the report was critical of the value created by the diabetes products assessed versus their cost. The report noted several times on the need to 'align payment with performance' or in other words some type of value based payment model. Per Member Per Month (PMPM) and Per Engaged Member Per Month (PEMPM) payment models are widely used in the digital health space but will this change when the value created by some digital health products is being questioned. There is a clear trend towards paying for outcomes from B2B customers in the US, and some countries in Asia are making noise about adopting similar payment models. #digitalhealth #digitalhealthcare

Not a great outcome for the manufacturers of these digital tools, but I think PHTI's process itself is a step in the right direction for raising the bar on data and evidence generation to demonstrate value to patients. #HTA #Value #Evidence #digitalhealth