Can digital therapeutics (DTx) reduce costs for healthcare providers?

Digital therapeutics are software-based, so patient progress and adherence to treatment may be more accurately measured, relative to pharmaceuticals. With this in mind, data collected from digital therapeutics, if taken at a societal level, may help us better understand diabetes and improve our ability to treat it.

Digital therapeutics help people make data-driven choices to better manage their diabetes, and thus helps them to avoid complications which can lead to emergency treatment or hospitalisation.

In the UK, the NHS spends around £10 billion a year on diabetes – around 10% of its entire budget, with almost 80% or £8 billion a year, used just for treating complications.

If digital therapeutics were able to reduce complications resulting from diabetes by just 10%, this would equate to a saving of around £800 million per year for the NHS. Such cost savings could free up resources to be allocated elsewhere, such as prevention, and could help relieve strain on healthcare professionals involved in treating people living with diabetes.