We know there are a core set of common issues most digital health issues are facing, but how do we actually start to address them?
This is something Lindsay Ayearst, PhD and I kept coming back to when we had the opportunity to catch up over dinner last night. In fact, we were so engrossed we sat at the restaurant for over FOUR hours talking all things #dtx and #mentalhealth.
We talked about how one core issue is profitability. If digital mental health is going to have a future, we need more companies to cross this threshold.
While others are working on the policy side of this, what we talked about was that even with policy changes that create a path for reimbursement, you need the ROI that will convince payers to pay for it. And that’s particularly hard when, psychologically, people struggle to understand why an app can be so expensive - so the bar for clinical evidence is even higher than for other methods of care.
That means it boils down not just to having #research to support effectiveness - but to making the effects as good as they can be. And to do that, it really starts with the product - optimizing adoption, engagement, and effectiveness so that the most people in your sample are engaging with the product in a way that leads to meaningful improvement. And if you can do that, then your #roi will be greater - which is what our clients want to see.
But we found ourselves frustrated that we’re not seeing these kinds of conversations happen in digital health spaces - or when they happen, we’re just not digging in enough (probably because no one wants to give too much away about what each individual company is doing). So how do we get past the fact that we’re working for different companies, all trying individually to achieve profitability, to leverage the common knowledge we have and make some progress here? We’ve got the brilliant scientific brains to do it!
Would love to hear thoughts from other folks in the space (and if you’ve got ideas on how to start having these kinds of conversations, let’s talk!)
Mental Health Advocate | Producing Engaging In-Person and Virtual Events with Lyra Health
9moKatie Lind happy to be working with you again! Send me an email and let's get that collab going!