Shawn DuBravac, Chief Economist and Director of Research, Consumer Electronics Association shares his insights at the Connected Health Summit: Engaging Consumers. Shawn spoke on the "Incentivizing Behavioral Changes: The Impact of Apps and Big Data" panel at the 2014 event.

What is the most important next step for healthcare providers to engage consumers in digital health solutions?
Digital health solutions empower consumers, granting them choice and involvement. Healthcare providers can encourage engagement by demonstrating to patients how new health and fitness technology can enhance their care and transform them from recipients to participants. Patients should be convinced that they are empowered through knowledge of their own health.

What will be the biggest impact for consumers as a result of digital health solutions?
An embrace of digital health solutions will increase awareness and, subsequently, demand for more preventative care options. The value proposition of digital health solutions lies in their ability to inform preventative healthcare through compiled lifestyle data. Sensorization drives engagement, which in turn supplies valuable data to doctors for preventative medicine.

What will be the biggest driver for digital health market?
Digitization of broad swaths of information will be the biggest driver for the digital health market as consumers digitize more and more activities and medical data. Demand and supply for digital health solutions will increase as consumers realize the efficiencies and health providers realize the competitive landscape of the “always on” connected consumers.