Yoni Nevo, Sweetch07.12.22
Patient non-adherence is one of the primary challenges that healthcare systems face today. This is especially true for patients with chronic conditions, where rates of medication non-adherence reach a shocking 50 percent, let alone adherence to the overall treatment regimens.
Various factors contribute to treatment programs and physician recommendations being ignored or misapplied, including lack of motivation, forgetfulness, misunderstanding instructions, fear of side effects, and more. The consequences can be dire – as of 2019, chronic conditions were the cause of almost 75 percent of all deaths worldwide.
As medicine evolves and groundbreaking pharmaceuticals and devices head to market, it is concerning that so many patients fail to use the newest and most innovative resources available. If otherwise effective medicines and potentially transformational devices are not used regularly or are simply forgotten on the bedside table, they are rendered useless. The time has come to introduce scalable technology-driven solutions that can motivate patients with chronic conditions to adhere to their treatment programs.
The IMDRF defines SaMD as “software intended to be used for…medical purposes that perform these purposes without being part of a hardware medical device.” Digital therapeutics are similar in that they are therapies that use software programs to treat or manage various medical disorders and diseases. These types of software can be found in apps that assist in remote patient monitoring or disease management, such as those that remind patients to take their medications or prompt them to get in their prescribed minutes of exercise per day. These apps assist in the treatment of chronic conditions by ensuring that patients adhere to protocols every step of their arduous health journeys.
SaMD and DTx solutions are promising, but they are only truly effective when their engagement with patients is precise and personalized. Precision medicine is defined by the FDA as “an innovative approach to tailoring disease prevention and treatment that takes into account differences in people's genes, environments, and lifestyles.” Because every individual is unique, they require a unique and continuous relationship with their healthcare providers and personalized interactions with their digital therapeutic solutions. It is insufficient for an SaMD or DTx solution to prompt a patient to take their medication when they are driving, or to go for a walk when they are in a meeting. For apps to be effective, they need to hyper-personalize the patient’s experience.
This can be achieved through the combination of artificial intelligence (AI) and emotional intelligence (EI) or, differently put, data science combined with behavioral science, which together paint a clear picture of a patient’s personality and behavioral patterns. Software solutions must use AI to analyze the context of an individual’s life, including their calendar, food preferences, favorite entertainment locations, habits and, arguably most importantly, their response to the software’s prompts. Did the patient go for a walk after being prompted to do so? Did they take their medication?
Furthermore, EI and behavioral science can help determine the most effective tone of voice and message structure that will encourage the patient to adhere to the instruction. Just as human beings need to process others’ personalities and adjust accordingly to maximize interaction, SaMD and DTx solutions must utilize this human-like element to become a trusted voice for people with chronic conditions. This approach, sometimes known as just-in-time adaptive intervention (JITAI) carries great potential to increase patient adherence and improve clinical outcomes for people with chronic conditions.
As more organizations adopt novel SaMD and DTx solutions, and more devices are enhanced with hyper-personalized adaptation to patients’ usage and health progress, we can expect a continued decrease in rates of patient non-adherence and, hopefully, slower deterioration and decreased morbidity for patients with chronic conditions. As patients become more adherent in taking their medication and comply with their other recommendations, they will become healthier and better able to manage their disease.
Yoni Nevo, CEO of Sweetch, is a seasoned entrepreneur who sold his previous company to Snap, Inc., and brings deep user experience insights to Sweetch's hyper-personalized engagement solutions for chronic conditions.
Various factors contribute to treatment programs and physician recommendations being ignored or misapplied, including lack of motivation, forgetfulness, misunderstanding instructions, fear of side effects, and more. The consequences can be dire – as of 2019, chronic conditions were the cause of almost 75 percent of all deaths worldwide.
As medicine evolves and groundbreaking pharmaceuticals and devices head to market, it is concerning that so many patients fail to use the newest and most innovative resources available. If otherwise effective medicines and potentially transformational devices are not used regularly or are simply forgotten on the bedside table, they are rendered useless. The time has come to introduce scalable technology-driven solutions that can motivate patients with chronic conditions to adhere to their treatment programs.
Software as a Medical Device and Digital Therapeutics
Two promising solutions to patient non-adherence are new classifications of medical device coined by the International Medical Device Regulators Forum (IMDRF): SaMD, or Software as a Medical Device and digital therapeutics (DTx).The IMDRF defines SaMD as “software intended to be used for…medical purposes that perform these purposes without being part of a hardware medical device.” Digital therapeutics are similar in that they are therapies that use software programs to treat or manage various medical disorders and diseases. These types of software can be found in apps that assist in remote patient monitoring or disease management, such as those that remind patients to take their medications or prompt them to get in their prescribed minutes of exercise per day. These apps assist in the treatment of chronic conditions by ensuring that patients adhere to protocols every step of their arduous health journeys.
SaMD and DTx solutions are promising, but they are only truly effective when their engagement with patients is precise and personalized. Precision medicine is defined by the FDA as “an innovative approach to tailoring disease prevention and treatment that takes into account differences in people's genes, environments, and lifestyles.” Because every individual is unique, they require a unique and continuous relationship with their healthcare providers and personalized interactions with their digital therapeutic solutions. It is insufficient for an SaMD or DTx solution to prompt a patient to take their medication when they are driving, or to go for a walk when they are in a meeting. For apps to be effective, they need to hyper-personalize the patient’s experience.
This can be achieved through the combination of artificial intelligence (AI) and emotional intelligence (EI) or, differently put, data science combined with behavioral science, which together paint a clear picture of a patient’s personality and behavioral patterns. Software solutions must use AI to analyze the context of an individual’s life, including their calendar, food preferences, favorite entertainment locations, habits and, arguably most importantly, their response to the software’s prompts. Did the patient go for a walk after being prompted to do so? Did they take their medication?
Furthermore, EI and behavioral science can help determine the most effective tone of voice and message structure that will encourage the patient to adhere to the instruction. Just as human beings need to process others’ personalities and adjust accordingly to maximize interaction, SaMD and DTx solutions must utilize this human-like element to become a trusted voice for people with chronic conditions. This approach, sometimes known as just-in-time adaptive intervention (JITAI) carries great potential to increase patient adherence and improve clinical outcomes for people with chronic conditions.
As more organizations adopt novel SaMD and DTx solutions, and more devices are enhanced with hyper-personalized adaptation to patients’ usage and health progress, we can expect a continued decrease in rates of patient non-adherence and, hopefully, slower deterioration and decreased morbidity for patients with chronic conditions. As patients become more adherent in taking their medication and comply with their other recommendations, they will become healthier and better able to manage their disease.
Yoni Nevo, CEO of Sweetch, is a seasoned entrepreneur who sold his previous company to Snap, Inc., and brings deep user experience insights to Sweetch's hyper-personalized engagement solutions for chronic conditions.
