What's next for the digital health industry?
The unmanageable burden of chronic conditions on patients and care teams
The U.S. healthcare system is strained with 50% of the population having chronic illnesses. Hypertension affects nearly half of adults, with only a quarter having it under control. Thirty seven million Americans have diabetes, and one in five don’t know it. Obesity is an epidemic in the U.S., affecting more than 41.9% of the population. Consequently, almost one-third of healthcare spending goes to hospital care, indicating a need for earlier intervention. Clinic visits for chronic conditions are challenging for a variety of reasons, leading to non-compliance. Care teams lack daily biomarker data, hindering informed decisions on treatments and adjustments.
A “care at home” approach enhances patient experience and outcomes by reducing clinic visits and addressing health issues earlier. Remote monitoring devices, adopted by one in five healthcare organizations, provide a more consistent view of patients’ well-being. Patient demand for at-home monitoring is also rising, facilitating easy sharing of biomarkers such as weight or blood pressure. These programs, when implemented effectively, transform care into an “always on” experience, improving outcomes, increasing revenues, and strengthening patient/provider relationships.
The challenges behind a successful “care-at-home” model
In a recent survey of US-based health system leaders, the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions found health systems adopting such technologies are often hindered by low patient adherence as well as challenges with integration of connected devices into their existing workflow. For these programs to succeed, they need a way to keep patients consistently using the devices. But those with chronic conditions do not want to use clunky, medical-looking devices that remind them they are sick nor do they want to use devices that are time-consuming or difficult to set up.
Care teams also need assurances that the devices will continually and accurately transmit the data back to them. With an already full workload, care teams cannot be responsible for device troubleshooting or concerns around whether or not the measurements being collected are accurate. Device designers must find a way to solve these challenges when developing connected health devices to make a care-at-home model a viable solution for chronic condition management.
The device that is solving the digital health industry’s biggest challenge
With the vision of making the lives of patients and care teams easier in combination with collaborating with hundreds of digital health partners and clinicians, Withings Health Solutions developed Body Pro 2. This advanced cellular smart scale transforms chronic condition management by offering personalized motivational messages, a vibrant LCD color screen, and engaging health trend data to show progress.
Designers prioritized patient sensitivity, introducing features like “eyes-closed” mode to display motivational messages instead of weight metrics, reducing anxiety. These patient-centric features encourage healthier choices and enhance adherence, providing care teams with more consistent data for a clearer understanding of patients’ health over time.
Body Pro 2, fully personalizable at the patient level, sets new standards for both care teams and patients to drive higher engagement and retention. Its core capabilities capture advanced health metrics, including weight and body composition. Optional health modules unlock tracking for clinically validated biomarkers typically only available in a professional setting, such as Electrochemical Skin Conductance (ESC). Body Pro 2’s first module is prescription-only (Rx) and aims to improve the way patients with diabetes are taken care of. With this module care teams can measure ESC to monitor one of the biggest, yet often overlooked challenges in diabetes care, diabetic foot health.
With more continuous, comprehensive patient-generated health data, care teams can make more informed and timely decisions, ultimately improving the quality of care they can provide to their patients.
Experience the future of patient data integrity: Elevating your program’s accuracy and reliability
In parallel to the patient experience, device designers were also especially attuned to the needs of those running the digital health programs. Care teams have often struggled with the reliability of data generated from remote monitoring devices. What happens, for example, if another member of the patient’s household steps on the scale and skews the data?
Body Pro 2 solves this issue with a first-ever patient recognition feature, called ProgramMemberID. This prevents the device from inadvertently collecting measurements from someone other than the patient. This way, care teams don’t have to spend time verifying the accuracy of patient data, or developing workarounds to ‘cleanse’ data received to ensure it’s the patient who stepped on the scale.
Body Pro 2 also offers another exclusive partner feature called Engagement Score, that helps care teams understand the level of engagement of their patients, based on learnings derived from billions of measurements on Withings scales, to assess their motivation and customize their coaching accordingly.
The real role of devices in digital health – Empowerment
Connected health devices enhance the healthcare industry, improving care quality and bettering patient outcomes. Empowering patients with the right devices enables them to take control of their health, while accurate patient-generated data empowers care teams. This presents a significant opportunity for the digital health industry to redefine how they care for patients with chronic conditions. Withings Health Solutions goes beyond device manufacturing, offering the first-ever cellular scale to uniquely empower better health and better care.
Ready to empower your teams and your patients?
Contact us to learn more about Body Pro 2 and our full suite of connected health devices.
