Chapter 1 – Section 4
This section focuses on leveraging tools like wearables, telehealth, and AI-driven solutions to address key needs. Use it to build proactive intervention strategies in areas such as preventative care, chronic disease management, and mental health.
- Monitoring and diagnostic: Develop wearables and apps that provide continuous health monitoring for conditions like developmental disorders, offering personalized recommendations for early interventions.
- Collaboration with payors: Collaborate with payors, especially Medicaid, to demonstrate the long-term savings of preventive digital health solutions. This collaboration can lead to coverage for preventative care tools, which is vital for adoption.
- Schools and community settings: Public schools in the U.S. hold regular hearing, vision, and scoliosis screenings. Consider how a DHT may fit into an analogous framework for early detection.
- Integrate platforms: Build platforms that integrate telemedicine, remote monitoring, and digital therapeutics to provide holistic care for children with chronic conditions.
- Build partnerships: Given Medicaid’s role as the largest insurer of children, partnering with the program to offer reimbursable solutions for chronic disease management will be important to scale.
Learn more in our Medicaid guide.
Meet Amir
Personas illustrate key points in action, showcasing real-world applications and practical scenarios based on fictional personas.
- Teletherapy platforms tailored specifically for pediatric mental health can expand access to care. Consider collaborating with school systems or community organizations to embed digital mental health tools where children spend much of their time.
- Monitoring: Develop apps and digital tools that allow patients and caregivers to track behavioral patterns and flag early signs of mental health issues for timely intervention.
- Partnerships: Partner with Medicaid and school-based health programs to provide teletherapy or behavioral health apps as part of a covered benefit.
The U.S. Surgeon General’s youth mental health advisory & what you can do about it
Recommendations for funders and payors:
- Fund evidence-based youth mental health programs to expand access to care.
- Support initiatives that address mental health disparities and promote equity.
- Provide workplaces with mental health training and resources for employees with caregiving responsibilities.
- Invest in mental health prevention strategies targeting youth.
- Collaborate with schools and community organizations to enhance youth support systems.
- Cost-efficiency: Develop digital health tools specifically tailored for low-income families that are affordable, accessible, and culturally relevant.
- Partnerships: Partner with schools, community health centers, and local organizations to expand access to digital health resources for children who might not otherwise receive care.
Meet Maya
Personas illustrate key points in action, showcasing real-world applications and practical scenarios based on fictional personas.
- Clinical validation: Focus on building strong clinical evidence to validate DTx solutions, and establish partnerships with pediatric hospitals, research institutions, and payors to facilitate adoption.
- Reimbursement: Prioritize securing reimbursement for DTx under Medicaid and private payors by demonstrating the cost-effectiveness of these solutions in managing pediatric conditions.
- Collaborate with life science and research organizations: Work closely with pharmaceutical and life science companies as well as academic and research institutions to integrate digital endpoints into pediatric trials.
- Engage with regulators: Engage with regulators to establish clear guidelines for the use of digital endpoints in pediatric trials, which will help accelerate their acceptance and use in real-world settings.
Learn more in our microplaybook on DHTs in clinical investigations
Meet Parker
Personas illustrate key points in action, showcasing real-world applications and practical scenarios based on fictional personas.
Meet Amir
Amir is a 10-year-old African American boy living in a low-income neighborhood in New York City. He has struggled with asthma since he was 7, often experiencing flare-ups triggered by environmental factors such as mold and dust in his small apartment. His mother, Tasha, and father, Bryce, both work full-time and frequently miss signs of Amir’s worsening condition, leading to many unplanned hospital visits, missed school days for Amir, and missed workdays for Tasha and Bryce.
Now, Amir’s pediatrician has introduced a smart inhaler connected to a remote monitoring platform. This inhaler tracks his usage and provides real-time data on his condition, which is shared with Tasha and Bryce and Amir’s healthcare provider. Since adopting this DHT, Amir’s asthma has become much more manageable, significantly reducing emergency room visits and improving his overall quality of life.
Sustainable strategies from The Playbook team
Case studies
Charting the path to sustainable growth and impact
The road to sustainable growth and meaningful impact in pediatric digital health requires a careful blend of strategic thinking, stakeholder collaboration, and evidence-driven innovation. As we look ahead, key considerations and strategies from The Playbook team emphasize:
Addressing real-world healthcare needs: The focus must remain on solutions that align directly with the pressing health challenges of children today, particularly chronic diseases that affect long-term health outcomes.
Engaging key stakeholders early and often: Clinicians, patients and caregivers, regulators, and technology partners must be integral to the development process to ensure products are clinically relevant and widely adopted.
Data-driven decision-making: Leverage real-world evidence and clinical data. It is essential not only for optimizing product development but also for driving continuous improvement post-deployment.
Designing for scale and sustainability: Solutions should be designed for scalability, with a focus on cost-effective implementation across diverse settings and regions to maximize global reach.
To achieve sustainable growth, the focus must also include optimized development and deployment strategies, ensuring solutions are continuously refined, scalable, and impactful. Continue reading The Playbook for more recommendations, considerations, and strategies to optimize pediatric DHT development and deployment.
