Table 1.

Key Challenges and Barriers to Delivering Digital Health Solutions that Meet Patients’ Needs

Theme	Challenges and Barriers
Fragmented approach to digital health	• Rapid emergence of private organizations developing and marketing their own digital health solutions for commercial purposes without integration, coherence, or focus on the patient perspective • Fragmented landscape of siloed initiatives that fail to enhance patient experience and acceptance, exacerbated by the large number of stakeholders and complexity of the digital environment • Initiatives deliver only a fraction of their potential digital health value and fail to positively impact patient outcomes because they are not designed with patients • Across private and public sectors, the need to quickly deliver convenience has been prioritized over production of solutions with patients that maximize health outcomes for patients • Disjointed digital health solutions were created in response to urgent needs during the COVID-19 pandemic • Lack of integration of digital services into healthcare from the patient perspective
Regulatory landscape	• Regulatory process developed for conventional health solutions that lack the agility and flexibility to accommodate the digital health development approach (e.g., “constant beta” approach that allows rapid adaptation in line with changes in the industry landscape)
Transparency and data sharing	• Lack of transparency around data sharing and data governance, which stifles collaboration and drives rivalry and mistrust, leading to insular solutions and subsequently lack of adoption • Lack of clarity around health and non-health data
Identification and sharing of best practice	• Lack of process or platforms for identifying and sharing best practice and for evaluating whether digital solutions are truly tailored to patients’ needs and preferences • Low awareness of whether patients have the necessary resources to adopt/use digital solutions optimally, or see value in the solutions
Education and awareness	• Lack of education for patients and patient representatives to gain a wider understanding of the digital environment and how to engage with it • Lack of education for healthcare providers to support patients with identifying and accessing relevant digital health solutions and services
Patient involvement	• Low awareness amongst developers of why, when, and how to engage with patients, and of the value of return on investment • Lack of prioritization of patient contribution to the design, development, and adoption of digital health solutions or in needs assessment, service design, and data governance • Limited awareness of the difference between user-centric design and patient-centric design • Patient involvement generally limited to beta testing of an already designed digital solution • Lack of patient-validated digital endpoints for patient outcomes