Digital Pills for Disease Prevention

Describe your topic.: The benefits of digital pills and associated equipment/software platforms in disease prevention and treatment through medication adherence. Americans suffering from mental illnesses for which medication adherence is important, particularly non-pediatric and vulnerable populations. CHI urges AHRQ to focus the evidence review on strategies to prevent and treat diseases through ensuring medication adherence. Digital pills and associated equipment/software platforms would be compared to other existing means for medication adherence (e.g., physician office calls to remind, voluntary patient reporting, etc.). Primarily medication adherence statistics; secondarily, cost savings, improved care, reduced hospitalizations, avoidance of complications, and improved patient satisfaction.

Describe why this topic is important.: Medication adherence is foundational to disease prevention and treatment. Study after study has demonstrated how, as medication adherence slips, the disease(s) being treated may progress or a complication may develop that worsens over time. As digital health tools continue to proliferate in the prevention of disease and the delivery of treatments, medication adherence is no exception. Traditionally, methods as simple as pill boxes have served as reminders for medication adherence, but new cutting edge digital health innovations, such as “digital pills” that contain wireless transmitters and associated hardware/software systems to provide real-time insights to caregivers and other authorized parties regarding medication adherence. CHI believes that an AHRQ evidence report on established and emerging medication adherence approaches would be of great utility to healthcare stakeholders and the U.S. government.

Tell us why you are suggesting this topic.: New sensor- and internet connectivity-enabled innovations offer incredible opportunity to prevent diseases and aid in treatment. Evidence provided by AHRQ should help policymakers and private sector stakeholders support policy changes that will unlock this potential. We believe that medication adherence, a foundational aspect of prevention and treatment, is a powerful use case to demonstrate the potential of digital health innovations and to support their use.

Describe what you are doing currently and what you are hoping will change because of a new evidence report.: CHI actively advocates for the use of connected health technologies to be used in preventing and treating diseases. We believe that existing evidence supports the use of connected health tech offers a critical means to prevent and treat this suffering, but continue to hear from some U.S. policymakers that they need to understand, on a granular and statistics basis, how digital health tools transform healthcare. Through exploration of approaches to medication adherence, the evidence report CHI proposes would provide a crucial basis for greater U.S. government for, and private support of, new and innovative tools in preventing and treating painful and expensive diseases.

How will you or your group use the information from a new evidence report?: CHI would use this report to support the use of connected health innovations across public and private systems, both in the U.S. and elsewhere. This evidence report’s impact, coming from AHRQ, would be extremely impactful.

How would you or your group plan to disseminate information from the report? Who would you plan to disseminate it to?: We would share public links to the report and cite it in our own written and spoken advocacy across any appropriate fora.

Do you know of organizations that could use an evidence report to change clinical practice? Are you a part of, or have you been in contact with, any organizations that might implement the research findings of an evidence report?: CHI has been in contact with a wide range of organizations that would benefit from the evidence report that we propose. These include a wide range of providers, from the largest and most distributed in America to small and rural providers. Some of these organizations are members of the CHI’s Steering Committee.

Information About You: (optional)

If you are you making a suggestion on behalf of an organization, please state the name of the organization.: CHI

Please tell us how you heard about the Effective Health Care Program.: AHRQ email announcements/AHRQ website

Effective Health Care Program