5 connected strategy in the healthcare industry 1. Digital Health Connected Companies in Chronic Disease Management F or context, chronic diseases are defined broadly as conditions that last one year or more and require ongoing medical management, which often involves an integrated care approach including screenings, check-ups, patient monitoring, coordinating treatment, and patient education.3,4 Chronic diseases such as diabetes and heart disease are on the rise in the US and have become the leading causes of death and disability as well as one of the primary factors contributing to the country’s $3.8 trillion in annual healthcare spend.³ Given that current methods to manage chronic diseases are failing as evidenced by their increasing costs and prevalence, many digital health companies have emerged in recent years with the goal of revolutionizing chronic disease management by employing connected strategies: fundamentally changing the relationship between patients and companies that serve as care providers through continuous, tech-enabled, and data-driven interactions. The catalysts for the rise in digital health companies focused on chronic disease man- agement space stem from a few key macro-level trends. First, there have been significant improvements in healthcare technologies like wearables, sensors, and connected med- ical devices that allow for remote patient monitoring and better insights into everyday patient behaviors that could be affecting care. Second, there is an increasing focus on improving the efficiency frontier of healthcare, more specifically increasing the gap be- tween WTP for healthcare (quality and access) and the cost of delivering care. In terms of quality, there is a growing shift in the medical community mindset that in order to improve patient outcomes more effectively, our healthcare system needs to prioritize preventative health services and focus more on the social determinants of health (condi- tions that are a product of an individual’s living environment that can impact health such as access to nutritious foods and safe housing).5,6 There is recent recognition that only addressing acute medical needs in our healthcare system is not sustainable and there is a pressing need to maintain the wellness of individuals in everyday life to prevent or reverse life-threatening conditions such as diabetes. In terms of cost, it is well-known that the US spends more on healthcare than any other developed country and there is 3 https://www.cdc.gov/chronicdisease/about/index.htm 4 https://www.healthcare.gov/glossary/chronic-disease-management/ 5 https://health.gov/healthypeople/objectives-and-data/browse-objectives/preventive-care 6 https://health.gov/healthypeople/objectives-and-data/social-determinants-health