How smart solutions help patients manage chronic condition

Healthcare Digital speaks to Omar Manejwala, Chief Medical Officer at digital health company DarioHealth on how its digital health platform encourages patients to take a more proactive role in managing their health.

Please introduce yourself and your role

“I’m Omar Manejwala and I’m the Chief Medical Officer at Dario, overseeing the company’s clinical and behaviour change strategy. That includes driving our clinical research to help better understand the engagement, clinical and financial impact of our solutions.”

What is Dario and how does it help patients manage chronic conditions? 

“Dario is a digital health company that develops solutions for people with chronic health conditions including diabetes, pre-diabetes, hypertension, musculoskeletal and behavioural health needs. Dario offers an integrated, whole-health approach to managing chronic conditions by combining intelligent technologies and human support across highly personalised user journeys to keep members on track and drive sustainable behaviour change. Dario's data-driven approach to helping users improve their health makes it easier for them to achieve meaningful outcomes and also delivers real value for our clients.”

What led you to this industry? 

“I’m a psychiatrist by background and I have devoted my career to helping people change their behaviour. I transitioned from patient care to focus more on digital health technology. Specifically, I’m interested in how we can change behaviours in populations using technology to achieve the sustainable results that have long eluded the healthcare industry. That led me to join Dario as the company is committed to expanding the use of its digital health platform by driving behavioural change for patients with chronic conditions.”

How is your technology different from remote patient monitoring?

“Traditional remote patient monitoring usually is designed as an extension of the provider’s office with a focus on data capture and tracking, typically from a prescribed device. Dario supports the physician relationship in a different capacity by focusing on driving healthier behaviours in between doctor’s visits with highly personalised experiences that are more adaptive to the user’s needs and preferences. For example, we have a smart blood glucose meter for members but also integrate with CGMs to account for individual device preference. Tools like a logbook that can be shared with a provider serve a similar purpose to RPM tools, but again, are designed to put the patient in charge.”

What are the challenges of this?

“RPM involves the collection of medical and health data from individuals in one location and transmitting that information to healthcare providers at a different location. Stubborn compatibility issues make it difficult to integrate remote monitoring data with existing healthcare systems and electronic health records (EHRs). The other problem is that these solutions are often provider-oriented, not consumer-oriented, making adoption and sustained engagement very difficult.  RPM tools are also notoriously difficult to integrate with value-based care, whereas our solution is specifically designed for value-based environments.”

How has remote patient engagement changed healthcare?

“Remote patient engagement has significantly impacted healthcare by transforming how patients interact with healthcare providers to ultimately manage their health. This transformation has been accelerated by advancements in technology and the need for healthcare services such as chronic condition management. Remote patient engagement technologies such as DarioHealth’s digital health platform encourage patients to take a more proactive role in managing their health and provide them with the necessary educational resources, adopting a holistic approach to health that spans behaviour change across multiple medical conditions.”

Tell us about your work with Sanofi

“We partnered with Sanofi to help advance the adoption of digital health solutions through both commercial and R&D collaborations. I’ve been thrilled to see our shared research efforts coming to fruition this year, with several published studies and more still to come. This aspect of our partnership focused on applying the rigour of evidence generation standards used in the pharmaceutical industry to Dario user data to create a new standard for digital health research. This collaboration analysed real-world Dario user data to better understand the impact of digital health for not only efficacy in treating medical conditions, but on metrics like healthcare resource utilisation and medical cost savings. Recently, Dario has announced real world data from its collaboration with Sanofi around Dario’s digital diabetes solution.  Some high-level findings include:

• A 9.3% reduction in all-cause Healthcare Resource Utilisation (HCRU) with a 23.5% reduction in hospitalizations
• Statistically significant reductions in HbA1c 
• An estimated $5,077 in medical cost savings.”

What do the next 12 months hold for you and the company?

“We will continue to look for ways to innovate our products and make it easier for our users and our partners to realise the power of our AI-driven digital health platform. One important focus in the coming year will be enhancing our new GLP-1 solution to ensure we are meeting our members’  needs as our knowledge about this class of drugs evolves. 

“We’ll also be looking for ways to expand our partner network. Payers today are looking for the easiest way to add new solutions, and we will continue to partner with industry leaders to smooth the path for adoption.”

*********************************************

For more insights into Healthcare - check out the latest edition of Healthcare Digital and be sure to follow us on LinkedIn & Twitter.

Other magazines that may be of interest - Manufacturing Magazine. Check out our free upcoming virtual event, Manufacturing LIVE, 6th December 2023.

*********************************************

BizClik is a global provider of B2B digital media platforms that cover 'Executive Communities' for CEO's, CFO's, CMO's, Sustainability Leaders, Procurement & Supply Chain Leaders, Technology & AI Leaders, Cyber Leaders, FinTech & InsurTech Leaders as well as covering industries such as Manufacturing, Mining, Energy, EV, Construction, Healthcare + Food & Drink.

BizClik, based in London, Dubai & New York offers services such as Content Creation, Advertising & Sponsorship Solutions, Webinars & Events.