The healthcare system is racing to address the burden of COVID-19. Big pharma, government, startups, and tangential sectors are working together to flatten the curve, get more people tested, develop new treatments, and provide support to healthcare workers. Still, healthcare systems are severely overburdened, even after converting extra floors, cafeterias, and in some cases, entire buildings to COVID treatment centers.

Face-to-face visits are being eliminated for all but the most essential cases, and we are seeing a massive scale-up of telehealth systems. The $2 trillion stimulus bill even allocates $185m to expand telehealth services. And while this helps distribute the load for acute cases, patients with chronic diseases face growing risks in terms of contagion as well as disruption to the services and supplies they rely upon to manage their conditions.

Increasing access to telehealth is certainly a huge step in the right direction, but we need to look one step ahead. We could be leveraging digital to go beyond supporting the sick or symptomatic patient and give them the tools they need to maintain their long-term health in a post-COVID world. What might this look like?

1. Supporting and empowering digital patient communities
2. Fostering medication adherence
3. Continuous remote monitoring of treatment progress

Digital communities around specific therapeutic areas allow patients to take a more active role in their healthcare by connecting them to their doctors or their peers. These disease-specific ecosystems could potentially evolve into digital therapeutics; software-enabled therapeutic interventions for the treatment and prevention of disease. Therapeutic Area Networks (TANs) can also be used to lift adherence and track symptoms, progress, and serious adverse events. By monitoring adherence and outcomes in real-time, it is possible to address issues before they become severe enough to require acute care. Continuous remote monitoring can also be enhanced by sensors, wearables, and other connected devices; the opportunities are constantly evolving.

“We could be leveraging digital to go beyond supporting the sick or symptomatic patient and give them the tools they need to maintain their long-term health in a post-COVID world.”

The Digital Therapeutics Alliance has asked the federal health department to expand access to digital therapeutics the same way it has done for telehealth. And while solutions for diabetes, hypertension, weight loss, asthma/COPD, mental health, sleep, and cardiology are well known, the needs of people with other chronic and rare diseases are also critical, especially during this time. Here at Microhealth, we offer a solution tailored to the needs of people with hemophilia and other bleeding disorders. Our app helps them maximize their treatment efficacy and minimize their trips to the doctor.

Now, it is more important than ever to meet the patient where they are. Digital has long been ramping up to put tools directly in the hands of the patient, but more collaboration across the healthcare system is necessary to fill in the gaps for chronic care patients. The good news is that a handful of forward-thinking biopharma companies are already collaborating with innovative digital health startups to make a big difference in patient communities. Together, we can leverage advances in remote monitoring tools, big data, and AI to better support patients and healthcare professionals, deepen their insights into disease and improve health outcomes — both during the COVID-19 crisis and beyond.