The uptake of digital health tools has been slow and limited despite their potentially revolutionary effect on the healthcare system.

Verdict has conducted a poll to analyse the main barriers to the adoption of digital health tools.

Analysis of the poll responses shows that cost is the main barrier, as opined by a majority 18% of the respondents, closely followed by security concerns and lack of integration into existing workflow and systems, which received 17% and 16% votes, respectively. Patient not being digitally savvy was viewed as the main barrier by a lesser 15% of the respondents.

Further, 12% of the respondents opined that regulatory or reimbursement to be the main barrier, followed by lack of physician buy-in (9%) and patient buy-in (8%).

Access to technology such as smartphone and data and central nervous system disorders were viewed as the main barriers by 5% of the respondents each.

The analysis is based on 295 responses received from the readers of Pharmaceutical Technology, a Verdict network site, between 02 February 2020 and 19 April 2021.

Barriers to digital health tools adoption

Digital health tools are empowering patients to take a more active role in monitoring their own health. The biggest challenges for these tools, however, is achieving validations to ensure the intended use of a device and safely manage its data.

Further, manufacturers will need to place a high priority on patient safety. Device data needs to be accurately integrated with the medical history of the patient to avoid misinterpretation of information. Data privacy is another focus area where manufacturers will need to build confidence among users regarding the safety of patient data.

Cohesive public-private partnerships are also required to be implemented for broader adoption of digital health technologies.