Empowered Patient Podcast Future of Prescription Digital Therapeutics with Richard Kedziora Estenda Solutions
Richard ‘RJ’ Kedziora, Co-Founder, CEO, and Chief People Officer at Estenda Solutions, emphasizes that usability is critical in developing successful digital therapeutics, and industry standards and interoperability are essential for data sharing and integration. A digital therapeutic can be prescribed by a physician and reimbursed by insurance companies. It is a digital health application that has undergone clinical trials and regulatory review to prevent, monitor, or treat physical or mental health issues. The future of digital therapeutics looks promising, especially with Medicare's introduction of billing codes for prescription digital therapeutics.
Richard explains, " I think of the difference between a digital health application and a digital therapeutic as the difference between supplements and medications prescribed by a physician. So as you know, there are any number of supplements on the market. Some have more evidence than less about whether or not they can prevent, treat, or monitor a specific disease condition."
"Digital therapeutics, which can be prescribed, have gone through a rigorous evidencing process of clinical trials to make sure they work and have gone through regulatory review here in the U.S. by the FDA. So, they’re an elevated category of digital health applications that have been created and can make a difference in the world."
"You would still download them from the app store. That’s still where you’ll get them, but the key differentiator is probably from a billing perspective. Not only does that digital therapeutic meet a higher evidence-based, clinically-driven evaluation, but the idea is that you, as a patient individual, aren’t paying for it and can be reimbursed by the insurance companies. That can make a real difference in how much money a company putting these out can invest in it and then sustain a business based on the digital health applications."
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