Prescription Digital Therapeutics

A research team led by University of California, San Francisco, found flaws in how the large language model assessed prevalence and made differential diagnoses.

The digital prescription therapeutic AspyreRx, when added to prescription diabetes therapies, can help reduce the costs of managing the disease.

The smartphone app is currently under investigation in the CONVOKE study as a pharmaceutical therapy, aiming to address the negative symptoms associated with adult schizophrenia.

As the only FDA-approved, game-based digital therapeutic, EndeavorRx’s eligibility is expected to more than double the number of pediatric patients with ADHD who have a prescription from a healthcare provider, due to the increased age range.

In response to the high demand for healthcare professionals and over 2 million annual job openings — a 40% growth rate surpassing the average for all other occupations—healthcare organizations are seeking technological solutions to address this pressing issue.

Digital health platform Wellvolution adds Spanish webpage and an at-home hypertension tracking feature.

The corresponding author of a study published in Health Affairs of the research supporting 20 FDA-authorized prescription digital therapeutics (PDTs) sees some positives but also an overall lack of rigor and the need for at least one high-quality clinical trial for each PDT.

Prescription digital therapeutics (PDTs) have great potential for treating a wide range of conditions, so studying the quality of the evidence supporting their efficacy and safety is important, says the corresponding author of a study on PDTS published in this month's Health Affairs.

There were some positive findings. But of the 20 FDA-authorized prescription digital therapeutics (PDTs) identified by researchers, only two met all the criteria for high-quality research. The results were published in Health Affairs.

Otsuka American Pharmaceutical is tracking payer practices and attitudes about digital therapeutics with a series of four surveys.

Results of a randomized trial reported in The Lancet Digital Health suggest a role for internet-based cognitive behavioral therapy, but many of the study volunteers were left with symptoms that would classify them as having major depressive disorder.

Lisa Rometty, CEO at Zerigo Health, discusses the challenges and opportunities for growth within the digital health landscape, as well as how Zerigo plans to collaborate with patients and payers to make sure digital health tools are accessible and affordable.

When compared to a double reading of a mammogram screening by two radiologists, a double reading by one radiologist plus AI demonstrated a 4% higher non-inferior cancer detection rate, highlighting the potential of AI in enhancing cancer detection in mammography screening.

Mahana’s company’s irritable bowel syndrome digital therapy was the first to digital therapy to gain clearance from the FDA.

Akili executives said a focus on non-prescription digital therapies removes the barriers payers place on access and creates a more sustainable business.

The first-ever machine learning-based model was developed to provide preoperative predictions of weight trajectories up to 5 years after surgery, simultaneously for three of the most common types of bariatric surgery.

However, patients who cannot get insurance coverage will be able to access AspyreRx at a significant self-pay discount.

In two-thirds of published studies, digital therapeutics were found to be cost-effective, and they led to cost savings in most of the other studies. However, most of the research was funded by industry and that might limit its impact.

More than half of participants completed the eight-week course, the authors said.

Big Health CEO Arun Gupta says digital therapeutics companies must "rigorously engage” with payers and focus on broad adoption of their products.

Although they used the app, participants referred by the legal system typically used it to connect with social workers or other services.

The study found the pricing for the therapy made it unlikely to be more cost-effective than in-person physical therapy.

Many countries still do not have official frameworks with which to evaluate digital therapies.

Medical experts discuss the impact of health inequities on the optimization of prescription digital therapeutic usage.