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Reimbursement pathways for digital health companies can be elusive. A new report by Research2Guidance reveals the results of a survey in which 638 digital health players provided insight into how digital health solutions can monetize their offerings and which countries are most supportive of the technology.
Ralf-Gordon Jahns, Managing Director of Research2Guidance, spoke with MobiHealthNews for an exclusive interview to discuss the company’s white paper and how the research report’s findings can help digital health providers.
MobiHealthNews: Who did digital health researchers reach out to for the report?
Ralf-Gordon Jahns: So it’s a mix of digital health CEOs, founders of digital health companies, managers within health companies, especially pharma, medtech, (one person) taking care of, and they’re responsible for their digital health, be it strategies or a single digital health solution. And then we also have a few investors who overlook a portfolio of digital health solutions.
A few hospitals, but not many – they are not very active in our sample. Yes, and then a few researchers, but the bulk are founders, CEOs, and managers of digital health companies who oversee digital health activities and initiatives within their companies.
MNH: And what are the main conclusions of the report?
John: The key takeaway, I mean, there’s obviously a lot, because the question is very simple – how do you make money in digital health? But then the answers are not so simple. Especially when you look at the current state of the digital health market, I mean, there’s hype, and everyone’s talking about it.
I just came back from four or five conferences, and everyone was really excited about digital health and all that is possible. If you stay in these conferences, you really are in a bubble. But then if you look at the current state, the current state basically indicates that it’s still a marginal market segment today.
So, digital health today, in real health care, does not play a major role. You have to admit it. After 10-12 years, it’s still a niche. And it’s a niche in terms of income. It’s a niche in terms of funding. Maybe even when it comes to funding it’s a bit different, but it’s a niche in terms of funding. It is also a niche in terms of use.
If you really look at the current situation and then look at the discussions in the bubble, then there is a gap. And it was interesting to see how people basically shape their strategy in this very, very difficult market.
So we asked ourselves the question, who is going to pay for all this? What we found interesting is that it doesn’t really change. So the hype, yeah, you’re changing the whole healthcare system with the new digital health tools, but when it comes to who pays for all of this, then that’s a very traditional answer. He is a payer. So there is no change.
MNH: So stakeholders are going the traditional route, but the report went on to show that digital health companies need to consider all of these nuances in this route.
John: That’s right. If a digital health company asked me, “We want to go to reimbursement. What should we do? Then I think country selection is the first question you need to answer.
So which country do you start with? Because if you’re building your business model on reimbursement, then that’s a national thing. All reimbursement systems, they work differently. We have that in Europe. We have 26 countries, 26 reimbursement systems. So it’s not unique, and you really have to prioritize where you put your resources ultimately. So that’s the first choice you have to make.
And then the survey participants, they also helped, in a way, to answer the question, what should you offer if you selected the country? Then it looks like telehealth. If you have a telehealth solution then you are more likely to get a refund, especially post COVID, or RPM (remote patient monitoring). DTx (digital therapy) is something bigger. You can summarize virtually any digital service under DTx.
So I would say there is some hope for digital health to be reimbursed in the near future, but definitely focus on a certain list of countries and not try to get into full Europe or in the full countries of America, for example.
MNH: Another thing the report addressed was vendor adoption difficulty. What do you think is the most difficult task among stakeholders to achieve this adoption?
John: I think it’s still unclear for most companies how best to do this, but it seems there is a two-way street. So we approach the doctors, which is the most difficult approach. And we’re seeing digital health companies building sales teams that reach out directly to these healthcare professionals.
At the same time, we have marketing approaches directly to patients to create this pool on the patient side so that there are situations where the doctor sits with the patient, the patient then says: “Oh, by the way, that what do you think of this app? would it be a good complement to our dialogue or treatment?”
MNH: What do you hope the digital health field gets from this report?
John: It’s basically a status check, where when people read it, maybe they get confirmation of their own thinking. It’s more of a comparative analysis of their own strategies, country selections, business model selection. So I think it’s always good to see what other people or the majority think and then challenge your own thinking. So it’s one thing.
And then it can give some direction when you’re completely off the mark or have a completely different vision or a different business model. You could learn from it and take a new direction.
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