The possibilities with Digital Therapeutics (DTx, or DiGAs) are very exciting: better health management, more engaged patients, and more personalized care. At Significo, we’ve built a DTx platform to help manage chronic conditions, identifying the common interventions and features for the most costly diseases, all based on proven scientific principles and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT).
For payers and insurance companies exploring Digital Therapeutics or DiGA alternatives, here are some of the most important lessons from Significo:
Core Features of a Digital Therapeutic
Some of the most important features for our DTx platform, based on our own adaptation of the CBT manuals for anxiety and depression, as well as user research and feedback, include:
- Assessments to track the impact of the product over time,
- Self-paced learning modules,
- Interactive worksheets, and
- Homework assignments.
Differences from traditional DTx/DiGAs
- Unlike traditional DiGAs, our digital therapeutic platform aims to be a hub for digital interventions designed to address a myriad of indications: from anxiety and depression to diabetes and heart disease.
- Because our DiGA alternative does not need to be prescribed by a doctor, we can be more flexible in our approach to teaching people the skills of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Anxiety, or CBT-A, while staying true to the original, scientifically validated approach used by therapists across the world.
What have we learned in building a Digital Therapeutic Platform?
- People are very interested in an easy to access digital application to help them build skills for managing anxiety/depression symptoms.
- There is a population of people unwilling to see a doctor who are willing to use a digital application instead.
- Building a therapeutic application can itself be a therapeutic process. Team members are naturally driven to explore their own internal dialogues and ways of managing symptoms. It has been a process of learning the very skills we’re hoping to teach people.
- Content and tone is as much if not more important than shiny features. People will approach a DTx/DiGA from a place of vulnerability and the application needs to provide a safe space for them to do so. Our content, language choice and tonality play a huge role in facilitating that space.
- It’s hard to turn a PDF manuscript into an interactive, effective digital application! Our digital therapeutic platformis based on the internationally recognized and validated process described in the CBT-A manual for therapists. It is a process designed to guide two people, a therapist and a client, through an 8-week journey of self-discovery and skill-building. Taking the guidance of the manual outside of an in-person experience and applying it to a digital application requires a lot of creativity, compassion and empathy for the user at all times.
How can a platform like this benefit a pharma/provider/payer client?
- Our DiGA alternative provides insight into usage and completion which enables Insurers to better predict costs for morbidities (Note: all of the data is anonymized, and no personal information is ever shared. We also uphold stringent privacy privacy protections).
- Our Digital Therapeutic platform provides a cost effective alternative to traditional prescribed DiGAs.
- Our Digital Therapeutic platform provides a wide range of interventions across many indications on a single platform, which reduces supplier complexity for the buyer.
What excites Significo/the team about building our Digital Therapeutic Platform?
- Most of all: We want to help people increase their sense of wellbeing and ability to manage their symptoms. We’ve all dealt with or known someone who has dealt with some form of anxiety or depression. It can take a tremendous amount of effort to start the journey towards healing. We want to reduce that effort as much as we can and help people get help quickly and easily.
- We’re excited to build an application that will provide access to tools traditionally kept behind the doors of a therapist or doctor.
If you’re interested in learning more about our Digital Therapeutic Platform, either as an insurance company or as a user interested in managing your Anxiety or Depression, contact us today!
