Digital Health’s Dirty Little Secrets Revealed

Digital health is hot. Consider the evidence.  StartUp Health recently reported that investors poured $5 billion into the digital health sector during the first three quarters of this year, double what was invested during 2013. (This is small change compared to what was invested in other industries, but it is a promising trend.)

Companies like Google Apple, Walgreens, CVS and Microsoft are seeking to shake up health with new digital innovations and initiatives.  And, hardly a day goes without another announcement of a new digital health startup, product, service or acquisition.  But, if you scratch beneath the surface of digital health’s rosy headlines, it won’t take long to find a less positive picture.

For example, my friend Anna McCollister-Slipp recently wrote in the Huffington Post about how patients are waiting “for the promise of the digital health revolution to become a reality.” Patients are still living in an analog world, with limited access to their data and an inability to communicate with physicians digitally...