At J.P. Morgan’s 41st annual healthcare conference, there was no shortage of innovative discussions. We’ve rounded up some of the biggest themes from this year’s conference:

Connected drug delivery devices are gaining traction among top pharma companies

As medication non-adherence continues to plague the global life sciences industry – more than $600 billion in annual revenue is lost¹ – many pharmaceutical companies are evaluating new approaches to improving patient engagement, including embedded sensors that capture data through drug delivery devices. One of the biggest selling points for organizations is that connected drug delivery devices can play a huge role in boosting adherence and compliance. Devices that can detect and capture data around patient-administered therapy, such as dose timing, volume, and technique, have become an increasingly popular choice among leading organizations. Patients are more likely to refill and take their medications on time, and correctly, if they can be prompted to do so and have a record of dosing history. 

With perpetually rising healthcare costs, soaring operating expenses, and plummeting profit margins, health systems are pressured to re-evaluate their care delivery models and shift their focus to value.

Implementing the right tools to enhance decision making and build care management capabilities for population health, risk stratification, and site-of-care optimization will be vital for navigating this actively evolving landscape. Digital health solutions are critical enablers of success, especially having demonstrated clinical and real-world outcomes in all reimbursement settings. 

In an outcomes-based payment model, health systems can leverage digital solutions to:

A staggering 97% of medical practices experienced a negative financial impact at the beginning of the pandemic, including a 60% decrease in patient volume and a 55% decline in revenue.¹ Nearly three years later, more than half of hospitals are still experiencing negative margins.² 

To ensure success in this actively evolving landscape, health systems must equip themselves with the right tools to enhance decision making and reduce administrative burden through frictionless clinician experiences. Digital health solutions are critical enablers of success, especially having demonstrated clinical and real-world outcomes in all reimbursement settings. 

In a traditional payment model, digital solutions can help health systems:

Health systems faced major headwinds in 2022: ongoing clinician burnout, soaring staffing shortages, and plummeting financial margins. Fortunately, the healthcare industry has been actively restructuring its landscape and building new momentum in reimbursement, value-based care, and patient engagement. With all the fundamental shifts to come in 2023, health systems have the most to gain… and the most to lose if they don’t take prompt action.

Here are the most pressing changes health systems can expect – and should immediately prepare for:

New CMS rulemaking on remote therapeutic monitoring is more practical for health systems

More than 90,000 new digital health solutions entered the market in 2020,¹ and annual growth is expected to increase 27% over the next 8 years.² For health systems, this creates an unprecedented opportunity to leverage digital solutions, especially considering: expanded reimbursement opportunities for remote monitoring, soaring patient engagement, and increased physician demand.

With so many digital options available, comprehensive partner evaluations are critical for identifying solutions with staying power, ensuring successful implementation, and developing the necessary infrastructure to support integration at scale. If health systems aren’t asking the right questions during their value assessments, they won’t see a return on their investments.

These are the top 5 questions health systems must consider before heading into their digital partner evaluations: 

Health systems are under pressure to capitalize on healthcare's growing digital landscape, especially with staffing shortages and clinician burnout at an all-time high. Without a concrete approach to integrating digital solutions into their care management strategies, health systems are at risk of losing time, physicians, patients, and money.

In our latest webinar, industry-leading experts from the Digital Therapeutics Alliance, ResMed, and Propeller Health shared insight on the changing status of the digital health market, and addressed how health systems can identify and adopt the digital solutions that have staying power. 

Here are some of the biggest takeaways from the discussion:

Propeller Health and its research partners presented five abstracts at this year’s European Respiratory Society (ERS) International Congress. Our latest research explored the relationship between respiratory comorbidities and healthcare utilization, the effect of digital health solutions on medication adherence and asthma control, and projected prevalence of COPD by the year 2050.

Read brief summaries of each abstract below or click the links to view them online.

Characterizing healthcare resource use among adults with COPD by presence of comorbidities

Between the rising global prevalence of chronic disease and a rapidly growing digital-first movement in healthcare, the development of connected drug delivery devices has increased significantly over the last several years. 

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, the connected drug delivery devices market was experiencing steady growth. By the end of 2020, the market had grown 23.8% compared to the previous year.¹ This expansion indicates that more than ever, embedding electronics and sensors into drug delivery devices including inhalers and injector pens is becoming more widely adopted. 

Healthcare is at an inflection point. In the United States, value-based models continue to grow, with value-based contracts expected to account for 22% of insured lives by 2025 – up 7% from current figures.¹ At the same time, rising healthcare costs and changing government incentives are contributing to shifts in provider and payer demand.

So, what does all of this mean for pharmaceutical and life sciences companies?