December 1, 2023- Direct-to-consumer medical devices are what the market is demanding today. Educated, motivated, health-conscious and busy consumers are attracted to almost anything online, including home blood pressure equipment, glucose meters, in vitro tests and diagnostic wearables. But distributors should view the DTC market as complementary to – not opposed to – the professional market in which they operate, according to those with whom Repertoire spoke.
Direct-to-consumer digital health is a growing industry that can address unmet patient needs by directly engaging patients, according to the authors of “Direct-to-consumer digital health,” which appeared in The Lancet Digital Health in 2020. “The direct-to-consumer approach might be particularly helpful for those without consistent access to care because of financial, social, cultural, or geographical barriers.” DTC is attractive to medical technology companies as well, because it offers them a large customer base and few regulatory barriers to entry, they said.
“We believe that the availability of DTC medical devices will promote more active participation by patients in their own healthcare,” says Anna Ivashko, manager, sales and marketing lead – life sciences, at Clarkston Consulting. “As a result, patients leveraging DTC medical devices will be more engaged and likely to visit doctors’ offices more frequently, prepared to have more informed discussions. This should drive the utilization of monitoring devices in the physician’s office rather than reducing current utilization and sales.”
Read More in the latest issue of Repertoire Magazine.