Healthcare has evolved a long way from the time of Hippocrates and maladies are no longer treated in cruel, inhumane ways. The steady evolution of medical science has ensured that there’s a cure, a surgery, a vaccine, a prevention strategy or a disease management guideline in place for almost all diseases. Moreover, the emergence of healthcare digital marketing agency has further revolutionized the industry by leveraging online platforms to disseminate crucial information, promote medical services, and connect patients with the care they need efficiently.

The inevitable consequence of constant progress in the field of medicine led to a dramatic increase in the lifespan of human beings. However, longer lifespans, coupled with unhealthy lifestyles, has had its own associated problems; one of which is the ever-increasing burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs); which are chronic in nature, and thus more difficult to manage.

According to the latest statistics by WHO, NCDs kill 41 million people globally each year, which is equivalent to more than 74% of all deaths.

Not surprisingly, 17.9 million (of the 41 million) die from cardiovascular diseases, followed by cancers (9.3 million), chronic respiratory diseases (4.1 million) and diabetes (2 million). These chronic NCDs need constant management, monitoring and regulation and digital health has neatly stepped into this gap.

With most of the population now being 'online' or at least having access to or using the internet, this seemed like an obvious step. Surfing the net to find answers seems to satisfy an innate human quality -'curiosity', and that’s why the use of technology has integrated itself so deeply into our psyche.

A statistic by Oberlo showed that Google was the most visited website in 2022, dominating the global search engine market by receiving and processing approximately 8.5 billion queries every day!

We can’t deny it. Our healthcare is now in the 'digital era'.

A survey launched by Statista revealed that most people, upon discovering a worrying symptom (ranging from a cough, to rash or pain), call on google rather than a doctor – a real paradigm shift in health care roles!

This infographic puts across the point beautifully, demonstrating how technology has caused a 360-degree shift in the roles of healthcare.

The focus of treating the ill has very subtly now shifted towards ‘patient centricity’, which keeps the patient at the helm of managing his/her illness.

One-size no longer fits all and precision medicine is the new buzzword.

Patient independence, motivation and empowerment are the new ‘lingo’ that form an integral part of healthcare strategies and patient journeys.

This has automatically led to the involvement of technology and the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to manage health and disease. The obvious outcome to this was the development of (drumroll) 'digital therapeutics (DTx)'.

In short, AI based technology and DTx have become game changers in healthcare.

In March 2020, the FDA approved the first prescription digital therapeutic for ‘chronic insomnia’ called Daylight. The list of DTx grows longer each day. Many major pharmaceutical players have joined the so-called ‘bandwagon’ and are partnering with digital health teams to offer adjunctive digital prescriptions for patients battling chronic diseases.

DTx can help improve care and patient experience, especially when combined with online and in-person care. There are a lot of DTx products in the pipeline, but only time and constant research can tell if they will help improve the lives of those that most need it.

The spectrum of approaching health care is changing. As part of the health care industry, are we ready to embrace this change and walk toward the future? Or are we still resisting the change and trying to hold on to the sand literally slipping away from our fingers?

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