What are digital health products?

Digital health products are technology-based tools and services that aim to improve health and healthcare delivery. They include various products, such as mobile health apps, wearable devices, telemedicine services, digital therapeutics, health information systems, and other eHealth solutions.

These products use digital technologies to collect, store, and analyze health-related data, and provide personalized and efficient healthcare solutions.

Digital health tools leverage digital devices, including mobile health, and comprehensive medical devices, to bridge the gap between patients and healthcare providers and achieve better medical outcomes.

Among these digital tools are wearable devices, which rely on sensor technology to enable early diagnosis and facilitate digital health innovators:

Fitness trackers, smart
watches & spire health tags

Fitness trackers and smartwatches provide basic tracking of health metrics like physical activity (steps taken, calories burned), and heart rate variability data. Spire health tags, on the other hand, are designed for continuous and advanced health monitoring with a focus on mental health. They can be worn discreetly on clothing and provide insights into the respiration rate, sleep quality, and stress management.

Remote blood pressure
monitors

Blood pressure systems may include a digital blood pressure monitor, a mobile app or web-based platform for data collection, and analytics tools for data analysis and visualization.

Rehabilitation devices

Wearable devices such as sensor-equipped gloves, arm bands, and exoskeletons can be used to provide real-time feedback and support during physical therapy and rehabilitation exercises. These devices can track movement and provide haptic feedback, encouraging patients to perform exercises with the correct form and posture.

What does digital health
technology bring to the table?

Improve access to healthcare
Increased efficiency and
cost savings
Better health outcomes
Enhanced patient engagement
Improved coordination of
care

Improve access to healthcare

Digital healthcare, powered by healthcare information technology, links people and doctors like never before. It helps bridge the gap between patients and medical professionals, especially for individuals living in rural or underserved areas.

Increased efficiency and cost savings

Digital health technology has the potential to benefit multiple stakeholders in healthcare. By streamlining healthcare processes, these medical products can reduce administrative burdens and free up hospitals to focus more on patient care.

This fact improves patient outcomes and leads to cost savings for patients and healthcare systems by reducing the need for additional medical interventions, hospital stays, and readmissions.

Better health outcomes

Digital healthcare products can transform the way patients manage their own health. By providing personalized and data-driven insights, patients can make more informed decisions about their health and wellness. This approach to healthcare, known as personalized medicine, uses patient-specific data to create individualized treatment plans tailored to the person's unique needs.

Artificial intelligence plays a key role in this process by analyzing vast amounts of data to accurately diagnose and treat health conditions. By leveraging the power of digital health products, patients can take an active role in healthcare and improve medical outcomes. This way, they improve their quality of life and reduce costs by preventing unnecessary treatments and hospitalizations.

Enhanced patient engagement

Digital health products can revolutionize the way healthcare is delivered to healthcare consumers. By utilizing communications technologies, these products engage patients and provide real-time feedback and support, empowering them to take an active role in managing their wellbeing.

Improved coordination of care

Worldwide, it is estimated that medication mistakes result in a financial burden of approximately $42 billion each year. Digital health products may enhance communication and collaboration among medical providers and pharma companies, ultimately leading to better-coordinated care and a decreased likelihood of medical errors.

Digital health products may also significantly improve care coordination during life-threatening situations by facilitating real-time communication between patients, healthcare providers, and emergency services. These products can help reduce medical mistakes by providing accurate and up-to-date patient information, enabling providers to make informed decisions quickly and effectively.

Design thinking: the winning
approach in digital health

Market leaders prioritize fulfilling the user’s requirements rather than following the latest technology trends, such as AI chatbots. Merely incorporating new technology into the service may not yield the desired outcome. The focus should be on how digital health apps can assist and encourage human behavior and cater to their needs.

The winning approach when building digital health products in the current healthcare setting is rooted in design thinking. Prototyping is at the heart of the innovation process. The primary objective of quickly constructing prototypes is to determine the concepts that align with the client’s desired business results.

The subsequent phase involves testing and learning as ideas are verified and enhanced until they culminate in the intended end product. As a result, healthcare providers can visualize and examine the final product before the actual development phase begins.

Challenges in front of digital
health solutions

Digital health products collect personal health information (PHI), which is sensitive and potentially vulnerable to data breaches and misuse in marketing. Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) protects PHI for healthcare providers, but many wearable fitness trackers and other digital health products are not considered “covered entities” under HIPAA.

Therefore, they are not required to protect the data they collect on the consumer’s behalf, which creates new data privacy risks that leave consumers vulnerable.

Furthermore, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulates medical devices for safety and effectiveness concerns, but the agency is primarily concerned with physical safety, not cybersecurity controls.

Therefore, any guidelines they issue related to data privacy are recommendations and not a requirement. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) often steps in regarding consumer data privacy and security for non-regulated digital technology, but until more specific laws are put in place, it’s critical for healthcare providers and patients to take a proactive role in keeping their medical data safe.

Therefore, given these challenges, as a medical provider, you need a team of experienced developers with a deep understanding of the healthcare industry who can guide you through the entire development process, ensuring that your digital health products are functional, secure, and compliant with the regulations.

So if you’re looking for a reliable partner to develop your digital health software, don’t hesitate to contact BGO Software today, an innovative company that values patient data privacy and security.

Our expertise in depth

Digital Health
Consulting

Digital Health Products

What are digital health products?

Fitness trackers, smart watches & spire health tags

Remote blood pressure monitors

Rehabilitation devices

What does digital health technology bring to the table?

Improve access to healthcare

Increased efficiency and cost savings

Better health outcomes

Enhanced patient engagement

Improved coordination of care

Design thinking: the winning approach in digital health

Challenges in front of digital health solutions

Our expertise in depth

Do you still wonder what type of service you need for your project?

Digital Health
Products

Fitness trackers, smart
watches & spire health tags

Remote blood pressure
monitors

What does digital health
technology bring to the table?

Design thinking: the winning
approach in digital health

Challenges in front of digital
health solutions

Do you still wonder what type
of service you need for your
project?