Digital Health Solutions for Chronic Disease Management

Chronic diseases are on the rise and account for 75% of U.S. health-care spending and 70% of U.S. deaths. Furthermore, the number of Americans suffering from chronic diseases is expected to increase from 47.7% in 2018 to 49.2% in 2030. This, coupled with the projected decrease in nursing specialists (Sigma estimates 400,000 professionals will be needed by 2020), indicates that we will soon be confronted with a mass health management problem. Technology, however, may hold the solution to effectively administering the increasing onset of chronic diseases. In this article, we explore these technological solutions.

Digital health-care apps

Heart disease, diabetes, and lung disease are the three chronic diseases that have the most significant financial impact on the health-care industry. Research on these three chronic diseases reveals that less money would be spent if patients regularly took their medications and were routinely monitored for their vitals and symptoms. This lack of effective monitoring is accreting the burden on limited health-care resources. Nevertheless, recent achievements have been attained with the advent of digital health-care apps, which can monitor a patient’s health vitals and provide helpful alerts when it is time to take medication. 

Such digital health solutions are gaining traction in chronic disease management (CDM), specifically in diseases like: 
Diabetes: In collaboration with the American Medical Association, Intermountain Healthcare is running a test pilot of an online program for Omada Health patients at risk for diabetes.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD): A health application called COPD Co-Pilot has been developed by Temple University’s Temple Lung Center to help measure how serious symptoms are compared with a patient’s baseline data.

High blood pressure: Rush University Medical Center is working with Proteus Digital Health to augment users’ compliance with blood-pressure medication using a system called Proteus Discover.

Heart disease: The Mayo Clinic published a study in the Journal of Clinical Investigations wherein researchers successfully tested a health app that provided information about healthy lifestyles and the ability for cardiac rehab patients to report their dietary and exercise habits.

Four-Step Process 

Despite these developments in the digital health-care industry, health tech apps on their own may be inadequate in delivering a comprehensive solution to the problems faced in CDM. The Harvard Business Review believes that in order for CDM apps to succeed and create user retention, they must employ a four-step process called the “adopt-diffuse-use-improve” cycle, in which:
App developers make a compelling argument for clients to adopt a new digital health product
The developers work to diffuse the app and convince users to give it a try
The app achieves a sustained level of usage, preferably integrated within the natural flow of the user’s daily activities. The app should constantly be improved upon.

Playpal is one such example of a digital health solution that has recently emerged on the mHealth market. The Playpal Platform is a digital health marketplace that unifies global health IoT devices, apps, and stakeholders to create interoperability in the health market and make health-management seamless. Playpal’s engine follows the principles of the “adopt-diffuse-use-improve” process by presenting tailored insights to individuals to better manage and preempt their health outcomes. 
As the number of chronic disease cases increases, technological solutions are more important than ever; holistic Platforms like Playpal are making strides in the health tech industry by providing significant levels of support to the thousands of people with chronic diseases.