David C. Mohr, Ph.D., Professor, Northwestern University shares his insights at the Connected Health Summit: Engaging Consumers. David was a member of the Advisory Board for the 2014 event.

What do you feel is the biggest obstacle to growth in digital health services?
Big question—it depends on what you mean. For our work—integrating digital health into medical care settings—it’s across the board. For physicians, tools don’t fit into the workflow—how to get them to understand value, how to present data that are digested and in the form they want to see at the moment they want to see it. It’s hard to integrate them into EMRs in a way that is consistent and easily accessible (not to mention the problem of multiple EMRs). For the patients, it’s difficult to design tools that they want to use.

What will be the biggest driver for digital health market?
A potential driver is better health outcomes (which has not consistently been demonstrated—so that’s a need), as is cost savings, though that hasn’t been consistently demonstrated yet, and alignment of costs and benefits would need to match up.

What features should health and technology providers focus on to convince consumers to sign up for new services or engage them to change health behaviors/adopt preventive care services?
Health technologies need to fit into the fabric of people’s lives. Most devices/apps require patient motivation to use, which will limit their uptake by the people that really need them. So by focusing on development that limits burden, automates tasks, etc. to bring the value/burden balance to the point that it is used is critical. Harnessing the relationship with providers may also increase use.

What is one key issue around digital health services that people can’t stop talking about?
Not sure who you mean. But I think generally people are overly enthusiastic about the potential benefits—we’re at the peak of the hype cycle. I think there is value there, but we still haven’t figured out how to maximize it.

What is the best model for care collaboration between the technology industry and the healthcare industry to advance the triple aim (cost, access, quality)?
Probably not the best to talk about that. But I think the academic community has a role to play in learning the principles that can guide effective design and implementation, both from a use standpoint and an efficacy stand point.