The Evidence Gaps Digital Health Platforms Still Need to Close

With healthcare costs dominating the conversation in recent years, the topic of employer-covered healthcare is a key issue. With most Americans getting their health insurance coverage through their employers, this is a key area that impacts how much people feel the burden of healthcare costs.

One way that employers are looking to reduce costs without impacting benefits is by turning to digital health platforms. However, the evidence is still unclear as to how much of a positive impact that these platforms actually have.

Pharmaceutical Executive spoke with Michael Abrams, managing partner at global healthcare consultancy Numerof & Associates about strategies employers are using to reduce costs while still providing effective coverage. He also discusses the impact of digital health and how it appears to actually be impacting the market.

Pharmaceutical Executive: What evidence gaps do digital healthcare platforms still need to close?
Michael Abrams: There are a number of issues worth addressing here. In many cases, the comparators used to demonstrate savings — claims like "my company saved your company X over what you would have spent otherwise" — may not hold up to methodological scrutiny on closer analysis. What is sometimes presented as compelling evidence of cost savings may be considerably less compelling when you examine the underlying comparison more carefully.