Italy accelerates the path towards digital therapeutics implementation

PME talks to Roberto Ascione, CEO of Healthware Group, Gualberto Gussoni, Scientific Director of FADOI, Scientific Society of Internal Medicine and Giuseppe Recchia, Director of Tendenze Nuove about the advancement of digital therapeutics in Italy.

Following the USA, Germany and France as pioneers in digital therapeutics adoption, Italy is taking action to reinforce the implementation of digital therapeutics nationwide. In January 2021, Tendenze Nuove, the official Smith Kline Foundation journal, announced the publication of ‘Digital Therapeutics, an Opportunity for Italy’, a white paper whose recommendations lay the foundational knowledge for Italian digital therapeutics ecosystem advancement and demonstrate Italy’s commitment to introducing the new class of digital therapeutics into medical practice.

Previously depicted as the distant future, the era of digital therapeutics is already here. 2020 was a game changer for digital therapeutics and digital health in general, as the emergence of COVID-19 caused a qualitative shift in the scale of new technology adoption that resulted in the ongoing evolution of healthcare towards digital, personalised and accessible treatment.

Concurrently, the pandemic sparked the willingness and readiness of all stakeholders – healthcare professionals, patients and regulators – to reinforce the implementation of digital tools. On a global scale, examples of this occurring include the video game Endeavor in the USA, which in June 2020 became the first app to receive FDA approval for the treatment of ADHD in children. 2020 was also the year digital health apps first became officially available for statutory reimbursement under the Digital Healthcare Act (DVG) in Germany.

Roberto Ascione , CEO of Healthware Group, said:

“The current global scenario is very diverse with respect to the ability of individual countries and their healthcare systems to adopt and regulate these new therapeutic treatments that will mark the future of medicine, with a crucial impact on patients in terms of access to treatment and the sustainability of healthcare systems. In Italy, the collaboration between innovators and the different players of the national health system is essential to gain more awareness and facilitate the adoption of this new generation of therapies, as has already been done in other countries.”

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