Medicine without Meds: Transforming Patient Care with Digital Therapies

Medicine without Meds: Transforming Patient Care with Digital Therapies

How digital therapies can transform your health. Traditional health care has a new ally. Some patients with sleep disorders, back pain, and diabetes are now being prescribed app-based treatment instead of drugs. Algorithms are helping cancer patients manage their symptoms, and video games are improving the attention span of children diagnosed with ADHD. A new class of medicine called digital therapeutics (DTx) is gaining traction and transforming the way patients engage with the health care system. In Medicine without Meds , Dean Ho, Yoann Sapanel, and Agata Blasiak explore the exciting potential for these digital therapies to transform patient care. Ho, Sapanel, and Blasiak share their insights on how these therapies can deliver value beyond the technology, address the challenges of implementation in existing health care models, and revolutionize care delivery. These clinicians, researchers, engineers, patients, start-up founders, and corporate executives are at the forefront of designing and building tomorrow's DTx. They explain what DTx represents, how it differs from other digital health solutions, and how these tools can be conceptualized, created, and brought to market. Throughout, case studies from leading DTx organization such as Akili Interactive, MedRhythms, and Welldoc illuminate best practices in product development, issues to consider, and pitfalls to avoid. These essays, along with a foreword by D. A. Wallach and Dr. Eddie Martucci's outlook on the future of DTx, present the exciting potential for DTx to reimagine health care for all. This book shares useful resources, discusses insightful case studies (both successful and unsuccessful), and provides guidelines at various technology and business development stages. The case studies and key takeaways are particularly instrumental and enjoyable to read. The international coverage of the topic is another highlight of the book. I consider the book highly original, and it represents a substantial contribution to the digital therapeutic space. It should be a must-read. ―Pak Kin Wong, PhD, The Pennsylvania State University Medicine without Meds is an authoritative primer on digital therapeutics (DTx) for investors, entrepreneurs, clinicians, and policymakers. DTx have the ability to improve access to care and outcomes in a meaningful way, and if implemented effectively, can close health equity gaps. This book is a great start in helping leaders implement DTx effectively. ―Andrey Ostrovsky, Managing Partner, Social Innovation Ventures; Former Chief Medical Officer of the US Medicaid Program Apps are no longer just for tracking diets or steps but are becoming directly part of the medical treatment. Whether helping cancer patients or ADHD children, digital therapeutics are revolutionizing the way patients access health care. Medicine without Meds explains how our health will be transformed through digital health. ―Frank Lavin, Chairman, Export Now This book expertly brings together the leaders―from patients, clinicians, and health-systems, to manufacturers, venture capitalists, and policymakers―who can jointly transform the opportunities of digital therapeutics into reality. It is an incredible springboard for delivering therapies to patients worldwide. ―Megan Coder, Chief Policy Officer & Founder, Digital Therapeutics Alliance There are only three ways you can effectively scale up an intervention for a population: add it to the water or food, make it a compulsory part of the curriculum in schools, or digitalize it. Medicine without Meds shows us how to do the latter. And convinces us it works! ―Yap-Seng Chong, Dean, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore A visionary guide to the future of healthcare, exploring the transformative potential of digital therapeutics to improve access to care and close health equity gaps. With thought-provoking insights from leaders across sectors, this book is an essential resource for anyone interested in the future of healthcare. A must-read for investors, entrepreneurs, clinicians, and policymakers alike! ―Jennifer Garrison, Co-Founder & Director, Global Consortium for Reproductive Longevity & Equality and Professor, Buck Institute for Research on Aging How digital therapies can transform your health. Dean Ho (SINGAPORE) is the Provost’s Chair Professor, the Director of the Institute for Digital Medicine and the N.1 Institute for Health, and the Head of the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the National University of Singapore. Yoann Sapanel (SINGAPORE) is the Head of Health Innovation at the Institute for Digital Medicine at the National University of Singapore. Agata Blasiak (SINGAPORE) is the Head of Digital Health Innovation at the Institute for Digital Medicine and the N.1 Institute for Health at the National University of Singapore.