Introduction: The New Frontier in Personalized Care

In the evolving world of digital health, a new kind of expert is emerging: the 'Digital Health Specialist.' Their role? To guide the design and communication of the value of products - be it services, systems, or technology - created for patients, healthcare providers, and payers.

Now, what makes a Digital Health Specialist? Simply put, it's a person with a foundation in medical education and experience, complemented by cross-training and expertise in technology, systems, service design, and business growth. This isn't an overnight transformation but a gruelling journey that equips these professionals with an intimate understanding of the healthcare landscape and an empathetic lens for all actors therein, especially the patient.

Take, for instance, a digital health startup [name withheld] with a strong, motivated team of brilliant engineers and business people; both co-founders had a long experience in sales and engineering leadership in healthcare and Pharma that initially struggled to find market fit. They had a brilliant idea, a savvy business team, and funding. Their product used was able to collect a variety of patient-reported data from patients living with chronic metabolic diseases (DM, etc.), passively (home fasting and random blood sugar, weight, bp, HR), and actively through smartly delivered unintrusive questions, patient-reported data, crunch this data using AI and conventional algorithms, then show these on a beautiful command station style dashboard for a physician to monitor near-real time trends in their chronic disease patient population. This product received raving reviews amongst their initial adopters and researchers but failed to gain traction among their target end-users, especially physicians. The doctors loved the demos but never signed the cheques.

You might ask, what did I know instinctively as a Digital health specialist that they didn’t know despite extensive experimentation and research?

I spotted the flaw in their strategy by effectively switching my hats between physician, patient and business person while considering the reimbursement, ethicolegal and fiduciary implications of real-time exposure to patient health parameters. It was instantly clear to me that in the current paradigm of care, as a physician, I can invest in this application nor risk giving my patients the impression that I am their remote monitor; there’s just no structural or reimbursement incentive to support the investment. I drew this conclusion in minutes, almost at the “spinal level” with minimal mentation.

The result, a repurposing of the tool for use during scheduled medical visits and refocusing of all new enhancements to reposition the application as a patient intake and ambulatory care decision support tool, to name a few, resulted in a sharp uptick of sales, adoption and customer satisfaction.

Now, in future, as we progress further on the value-based care model journey and create reimbursement mechanisms that reward a physician for maintaining a healthy patient population, the original value proposition can re-emerge.

Why is a Digital Health Specialist indispensable? Here's the rationale: There's a difference between lived experience and the firsthand insight gained from a rigorous medical education and hands-on healthcare experience. While a non-medical professional may create value and impact patients' lives significantly, the magnitude of that impact can be substantially amplified by working with a digital health specialist.

The role of a digital health specialist is not to replace other team members but to partner with them, infusing the essential ingredient of deep customer empathy, ensuring a better problem-solution fit and clarity in the value communication and strategy to achieve robust customer activation and adoption.

I assert, "Medical technology is as much about understanding people and problems as it is about understanding pathology management mechanisms." This is the kind of understanding a digital health specialist brings.

Some might argue that being a clinician is not a pre-requisite, and the cost may outweigh the benefits. Consider this: What's the cost of a solution that doesn't meet market needs or resonate with its intended users? Further, an increasing number of clinicians are shifting to industry, excited to innovate and solve problems. The long-term benefits and cost savings of having a digital health specialist on board exponentially outweigh the initial investment.

In conclusion, if you're part of an organization offering a healthcare solution - hardware, software, service, or system - and lack digital health specialists in your teams, it's time to rethink your strategy.

The digital health landscape is rapidly evolving, and to keep pace and truly deliver transformative solutions, the input of those who know the healthcare domain inside and out is invaluable. So, what's your move going to be? It's time to join the digital health revolution - with a digital health specialist by your side.

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So, dear reader, what are your thoughts? Would a Digital Health Specialist be the catalyst for your healthcare solution needs? Share your thoughts and experiences in the comments below.