Megan Coder, PhD, MBA: Much has been said about the concept of clinician-provided care through face-to-face CBT when comparing digital therapy to traditional care. [cognitive behavioral therapy] and other therapies. We talked a little bit about pharmaceuticals. But when you’re trying to compare them, what else stands out about why digital therapeutics are more valuable? Maybe it’s related to patient-centered care or other aspects? , we would love to hear your views on how digital therapy is different or similar to traditional care.
Arwen Podesta, M.D.: prescription digital therapy [PDTs] Used as a therapeutic arm. They don’t replace conventional medication, but at least they boost and help retain most of the PDT I use. . This is a prescription. They do not replace therapists. That’s what I want to talk about. There is certainly a bit of fear or challenge in the prescription world because there are so many barriers to access, and because even if you don’t know much about these PDTs, you might find yourself robbed of my job. There is. Absolutely not. they are extensions. You can’t compare because it increases adherence, retention and success. We have not conducted direct studies between medication-assisted treatment and PDT for opioid use disorders. You will see improved results.
We support these tools 100%. [A PDT] Very patient-centered, as patients only receive group therapy once a week or once a month, or once or twice a week before a therapist, or three times a week in an intensive outpatient program The rest of the time you are either at home or out. How many hours do they use their phones or devices?I have him 4 hours to he 6 hours using the device. Patients may be on the device for longer or shorter periods, but being able to extend treatment with a device that is always on greatly enhances our ability to become part of their lifestyle. let me
Megan Coder, PhD, MBA: It is often said. Paul, we’ve been talking about how we, as payers, are beginning to evaluate digital treatments and their impact. Is the process very similar to that used for the PDT space, or is it a very different intake process for the evaluation of prescribing digital therapies?
Paul L. Jeffrey, Pharm.D: We rely heavily on proven processes to evaluate therapies that have just entered the market. At MassHealth, my team was responsible for evaluating numerous products. The way payers think about certain things depends on the distribution channel. That’s one way. If it’s a pharmacy item, that’s one thing. For a medical device that travels through the pharmacy channel, it is different from a medical device used in a clinic or used individually by a patient.
Along the way, our program conducted more health technology assessments. We have developed a process for evaluating the literature and evidence, what it would look like when adopted, and carried out the process in terms of usage parameters and impact. For example, for prescription digital therapy, it is assigned to a member of our team. We have clinical pharmacists and pharmacoeconomists who see these products the same way they look at pharmaceuticals. They started with the evidence-based one and engaged with key opinion leaders to discuss whether to use this when it becomes available. Then there are uptake and financial impact projections. The financial impact becomes the value proposition. We moved away from the cost of drugs to the impact of drugs on the overall cost of treatment.
As an aside for prescription digital therapeutics, when we adopted reSET and reSET-O into our formulary, we hoped it would reduce the overall cost of care for patients using it. We had that expectation, so we’re doing an evaluation to see if that turns out to be the case. That’s a terrible analogy. We’re working on that process, but we continue to use the same proven methods that we’ve developed and become experts in over the years.
Edited transcript for clarity.