Lisa K. Rawlins, PhD

Panelists discuss how managed care organizations can leverage prescription digital therapeutics as cost-reduction tools to address quality metrics and offset financial impacts from health care policy changes while identifying education of providers about workflow impacts and value propositions as the biggest unmet need for wider adoption in mental health conditions.

Panelists discuss how insurance coverage for prescription digital therapeutics remains uneven due to uncertain reimbursement pathways, lack of awareness among health care leaders, challenges in demonstrating cost-effectiveness, provider workflow concerns, and technical barriers including coding issues and limited electronic health record integration.

Panelists discuss how prescription digital therapeutics differ from traditional pharmaceuticals by following FDA medical device approval pathways focused on clinical performance and safety rather than chemistry and manufacturing while offering potential economic value by extending behavioral health capacity to underserved populations, especially in rural areas with limited mental health professionals.

Panelists discuss how schizophrenia imposes significant economic costs across direct medical expenses, nonmedical expenses, and indirect costs, with negative symptoms particularly amplifying the burden by reducing patient engagement, work capacity, and treatment adherence while increasing relapse risk and total cost of care.