For several years now, the world of health has fully entered into various forms of digital transformation. The sector was quickly taken over jointly by both tech start-ups and pharmaceutical companies. The authorities are also taking up the subject, which gives a very reassuring twist for patients and consumers who have enough to sort out. So, how to find it? Can we trust these companies, depending on whether or not they allow a refund? Let’s do a check in.
“Digital therapies” or DTx
Let us agree on the term “digital therapy”, which designates something specific.
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Definition
“Digital Therapeutics”, DTx, is the buzzword within the medical industry. Applications and software relating to the world of health are legion, but in this specific case, it is necessary to define what is scientifically recognized: it is in this context alone that the term can be used.
DTx or digital therapies are therefore digital solutions equivalent to treatment, and whose use is scientifically validated. They allow, in the same way as physical therapy, the setting up of support, prevention and treatment procedures, on prescription and giving rise to the right to reimbursement by certain mutual insurance companies. The condition for a tool to fall into this category is of course scientific validation, via a certifying body.
A sector already well established and booming
It is accepted that the “birth” of DTx, across the Atlantic, corresponds to the validation by the FDA (Food and drug Administration), in 2013, of the “Blue Star” system providing digital assistance to patients with type 2 diabetes. It was decided that the support for such a condition brought real added value from a therapeutic point of view, and real advantages directly linked to the medical and physical follow-up of patients. Since then, the growth of the sector appears to be very sustained, especially since the health crisis which, in the world of health as elsewhere, has acted as an accelerator of digital transformation.
For the years to come, growth prospects are around 20%.
Institutional validations are all the easier to obtain, provided that the offer is serious, since the shortcomings of the health systems in terms of physical staff often concern pathologies requiring little or no pharmacological treatment. This is the case, for example, with behavioral therapies or even guided physical programs.
The last point sought by the firms developing these tools is a degree of recognition such that reimbursement of care, at least by private insurance, is made possible. This represents a very buoyant market, and legislation is beginning to take a close interest in it: this is the case in Germany, where since 2020 it is possible to obtain early reimbursement for certain digital therapies.
How digital therapy works: the e-health clinic, a good example?
A company distributing its services in France, Clinique E-sante targets a sector that is perfectly representative of needs that have clearly increased since the start of the health crisis: psychotherapy.
Company promises
The platform centralizes health professionals, qualified psychotherapists in various specialties. This offers varied treatment possibilities, and theoretically more likely to be adapted to personal situations than consulting a local practitioner who is not always well versed in the specialty sought.
“The site offers, following registration, a whole battery of tests intended to refine the patient’s profile. “: explains Alexandre Chombeau, Managing Director, at The E-health Clinic. These initial tests can be fed continuously by innumerable tests and questionnaires making it possible to approach various subjects under various approaches. Note that the results of these tests in themselves have no medical value. They nevertheless offer a preliminary reading grid, facilitating the orientation of the patient towards a suitable practitioner. The patient can thus choose a psychologist according to predefined and personalized criteria. From then on, it is possible to choose the rhythm of the therapy, which can be weekly or monthly. This rhythm can be chosen hand in hand with the therapist, according to the needs, and revised if necessary. The interactivity does not stop at tests, since the follow-up includes the possibility of written and verbal exchanges, at any time, as well as tailor-made group sessions via Zoom. Users emphasize the pleasant side of the follow-up, which is much more intensive than a weekly session: indeed, a therapy conducted over a week can include several vocal and written exchanges per day, which frees up speech in a fluid way and eliminates certain parameters. emotional or physiological related to a single date.
A “mainstream” and “cheap” approach, validated and supported
We can identify three assumed axes with regard to the promotion made by an application such as the Clinique e-santé.
First of all, there is a deliberate desire to address the general public. This requires the care given to a neat interface, but also by the overtly playful aspect of certain features. The tests in particular lead to the presentation of diagrams, pie charts and other visuals, establishing certain details of your personality profile.
Then, the pecuniary argument, obviously put forward. We are still talking about a week of therapeutic follow-up around 57 €, also giving unlimited access to online resources. As a reminder, a weekly consultation in the office generally costs between 50 and 80 € depending on the practitioner and the region. The application does not fail to remind you that an in-office follow-up does not include any remote follow-up, and that in some cases there is a significant interest in being able to communicate very quickly with your therapist.
Finally, one of the key arguments joins the search for recognition through the reimbursement of companies in the sector: indeed, most of the large mutualist groups and private insurers today open up digital therapies to certain rights. This is of course a shock argument, from the financial point of view of course, but also in terms of credibility, especially if we consider the initial modesty of the tariffs.
Conclusion: should we be wary of the collusion between digital technology and the medical industry?
Well, no, as long as you are well aware of what you are dealing with.
There are many “health applications”, often fun, generally useful in terms of sports coaching for example, and which can rarely do harm. The proposed activities can in no way be prescribed, and they do not give rise to any reimbursement. They are also not medical devices, and their use is entirely your responsibility.
Digital medicine platforms are support tools, diagnostic aids or even telemedicine platforms. Their operation is subject to validation by the authorities, but in no way constitutes processing.
On the other hand, if the technology presented is “digital therapy”, while highlighting the aforementioned characteristics (prescription, reimbursement, proof of concept and clinical studies), there is no reason to doubt their effectiveness. In the worst case, if you doubt, consult several opinions of doctors in physical consultation. The latter, often practicing telemedicine themselves, recognize the common utility of these technologies, which have been developed and used wisely.