Healthcare and digital therapies, Parliament wants to speed up

Digital shortens distances. It is a daily experience of all of us. And it has made it easier to use services. In many fields; not so much in healthcare. Partly due to the complexity of the services associated with health care, partly due to the technological backwardness of the public administration. But, however late, Italy cannot still fall behind in the digitization of healthcare: we need economic coverage, laws that can be implemented, partnerships with the scientific community and with the governments of other countries. An acceleration could come from the birth of the Parliamentary Intergroup for Digital Health and Digital Therapies which today presented its work program to the Ministry of Health: to create the legal and regulatory conditions to favor the affirmation of digital therapies, in a framework of indispensable sustainability and organic digitization of the National Health Service.

The objectives

The objectives of the Legislative Agreement proposed by the Intergroup are the establishment of a Permanent National Observatory on Digital Health and Digital Therapies; facilitate interaction with other European parliamentary and institutional bodies in these areas by promoting exchange tables; open dialogue with the authorities and institutions of the Mediterranean countries by promoting permanent dialogue; commit to ensuring equity of national and regional access to digital health tools; give socio-political-health support to the recognition and territorial diffusion of Digital Therapies also in our country; promote institutional synergies useful for a common regulatory approach on the subject of Digital Therapies; identify initiatives at an institutional level focused on the issue of sustainability of Digital Therapies to ensure their diffusion within the National Health Service.

digital therapies

Digital therapies represent the new era: these are therapeutic interventions guided by software based on scientific evidence resulting from rigorous clinical trials which, by making possible treatment paths based on cognitive-behavioral interventions personalized on individual patients, enormously improve the clinical outcomes relating to a broad spectrum of pathologies. “A digital therapy intervenes directly on the patient’s pathology, exactly like a drug. For example, in the case of type 2 diabetes, an algorithm that through the use of chatbots uses cognitive-behavioral therapy to influence the patient’s behavior and change his lifestyle is a potential digital therapy”, explains Sebastiano Filetti, director of the School of Health, Unitelma Sapienza University of Rome. “Potential until their therapeutic efficacy is demonstrated through rigorous clinical trials, just like traditional drugs”.

From chronic diseases such as diabetes, asthma or hypertension, from mental illnesses to addictions (which today represent the real areas of pathology in which the first DTxes were developed, tested and authorised), up to the possibility of affecting a determining factor also in rehabilitation processes; just to mention some of the health areas in which digital therapies can enhance therapeutic responses. Digital therapies can be used in the management of addictions through action on the cognitive-behavioral sphere and be especially effective in supporting the recovery process. Furthermore, they can provide patients with detailed information about their symptoms and the consequences of their behavior, helping them to better understand the nature of their addiction. This can be helpful in motivating patients to engage in a recovery journey,” says Filetti. “However, as with any therapy, it is also important to consider the side effects and any associated risks. Furthermore, as with any other treatment, it is necessary to evaluate the effectiveness of digital therapies through structured and well-designed clinical trials”.