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When it comes to digital health, do you believe that we are past the era of hype and into the era of adoption? Is there a degree of skepticism that still inhibits the wider adoption of digital health solutions in clinical research and healthcare?

The idea of “digital patient engagement” continues to be one of the hottest topics in the healthcare industry, and according to BBK Worldwide director of innovation Erica Mercado, everyone defines this term in different ways. For instance, apps, wearables, and digital outreach and messaging are all tactics that can be effectively deployed to keep patients engaged. But for Erica, truly effective digital patient engagement amounts to more than the sum of its parts.

Even when we consider the strict regulations inherent to the healthcare industry, we are still years behind where we should be with regard to the adoption of mobile health technologies. Just look to other highly regulated sectors, like banking and finance; we see that adoption of mobile technology in these industries is much more established.

For digital health to be more widely implemented across the healthcare industry, smaller biopharma companies must be the first to demonstrate its efficacy. In this way, they must deliver specific real-world cases to prove to bigger pharma companies that digital health solutions are viable for the clinical R&D industry.

When patients find themselves interacting with information about their health and well-being, it is the responsibility of healthcare professionals to ensure that these interactions are as meaningful and productive as they can be. In this regard, the informed consent process is among the most important facets of clinical research currently undergoing a digital transformation, and pharmaceutical companies must continue to adopt eConsent across the board.

It’s been about a year since we released our first Focus 5 eBook on mHealth, and in that time much has changed in the digital health landscape. With a clearer understanding of the benefits, organizations are eager to integrate mobile health solutions to steamline patient care, and stengthen patient recruitment and engagement programs, while tech innovators continue to advance and refine these technologies for optimal clinical use. Now that mHealth has entered this next phase of adoption and development, it’s the perfect time to see where we are and where we still must go.