December 22, 2022
Dr. John Doyle's Forum Comments Captured by STAT News
Exponent Group Vice President and Principal Scientist John Doyle, Dr.P.H., M.P.H., was a featured panelist at the Milken Institute's 2022 Future of Health Summit. During the Partnering for Patients Forum, Dr. Doyle discussed the latest biomedical innovations and the need to increase equitable and affordable access to potentially life-enhancing digital health tools and services.
Drawing on 25 years of research experience in pharmacoepidemiology, health economics and outcomes, and real-world evidence, Dr. Doyle is helping lead Exponent's evolving initiative in equity-based digital healthcare.
STAT News — a website featuring in-depth biotech, pharma, policy, and life sciences coverage and analysis — highlights a portion of Doyle's comments from the Future of Health Summit in its December article, "5 ways health tech companies can make their products more equitable." The article explores the racial and socioeconomic disparities in healthcare and how these inequities hinder patient access to new digital health service technologies.
Dr. Doyle explained that differing community behaviors influence how people use medical technology. Moreover, he recommends that companies incorporate diverse patient groups' values and needs when designing their products rather than trying to retrofit tech designs with a different or broader group in mind afterward. This approach, according to Doyle, addresses biological, behavioral, community-related, and societal challenges together.
"If you just think of one type of human when you design your technology, you're ultimately starting on a trajectory that's always going to have bias," Doyle said.
He went on to state that a more inclusive design might involve considering whether the product is usable not only by patients, but also by their doctors, social workers, and other community members.
The STAT News article also featured industry experts including Irene Dankwa-Mullan, chief health equity officer at Merative; Lucia Savage, chief privacy and regulatory officer at Omada Health; and Jennifer Goldsack, chief executive of the Digital Medicine Society. Together, they offer five steps businesses can take to ensure that digital health products reduce user disparities while increasing technology accessibility and effectiveness.
To read more, go to "5 ways health tech companies can make their products more equitable."