This article is based on our recent webinar, Digital Health's Commercial & Business Impact: Measuring What Matters for Life Science Companies, in which digital health leaders from S3 Connected Health, Pfizer, and GSK explored how life sciences companies can more effectively measure the success of their digital health initiatives. Panelists shared insights into the frameworks and approaches that can support scalable, evidence-based investment while highlighting the importance of aligning commercial, medical, and regulatory functions.
Questions around ROI and the commercial impact of digital health solutions are coming to the forefront of many discussions in Pharma. Many companies are reaching a key inflection point in their digital health strategies, reflected by the broader recalibration of funding across the industry. A recent IQVIA trend report recorded a 4% decline in digital health apps in 2024 compared to 2021, highlighting a shift from quantity to quality.
Download patterns for digital health apps also support this trend, with solutions backed by strong clinical evidence tending to see higher engagement. While this shift presents challenges, it also creates a significant opportunity for pharma companies, which are well-positioned to develop evidence-based solutions. Although scaling often takes time, some have seen it take over five years to achieve 500,000 installs, especially when targeting smaller, more specific patient populations.
The current climate for digital health solutions reinforces the importance of sustainable commercialization models that support long-term evidence generation and align with broader brand or portfolio strategies. Digital initiatives often fall short not due to a lack of ambition but because they are built on flawed metrics or misaligned timelines. Many fail to progress past the early stages, getting stuck without sufficient product-market fit or missing the clinical backbone required to drive tangible outcomes.
Meaningful engagement must go beyond clicks and downloads to demonstrate therapeutic benefits, such as decreased symptom severity or enhanced quality of life. Only then can organizations start to measure commercial outcomes like increased duration of therapy, stronger payer positioning, and market share gains.
"When we think about the different commercial models and value drivers, we need to move beyond a basic understanding and take a more sophisticated approach to the value these solutions can bring to a product or portfolio."
Brian Flatley, VP of Consulting & US Pharma Client Solutions, S3 Connected Health
There were two main paths to value for digital health identified: direct revenue through reimbursement pathways, consumer sales, or B2B contracts, and indirect value delivered across the pharmaceutical product lifecycle — from market shaping and patient identification to adherence support and lifecycle management. Success will depend on defining clear metrics, securing senior-level support, aligning cross-functional teams, and creating compelling value narratives for all key stakeholders, including patients and HCPs.
The discussion turned to the strategic drivers behind digital health initiatives. While a live poll showed that enhanced patient engagement and improved adherence remain top priorities for many organizations, with 40% of participants choosing this response, it was clear that no single driver tells the whole story. Most companies aim to deliver across multiple fronts, from generating real-world evidence and capturing patient insights to differentiating through innovative digital experiences.
Simply launching tools designed to support these goals is no longer enough. Many past efforts have failed to deliver lasting impact, often due to a mismatch between digital health solutions and the real problems patients face. Success now hinges on solving specific, clearly defined needs — whether that means helping patients manage complex side effects at home, supporting earlier risk identification, or reducing the friction points that prevent continuity of care. This means digital health strategies must move beyond general engagement metrics and be embedded deeply within brand, medical, and commercial planning.
“The bar for digital health is extremely high. It almost has to be an overwhelming business case… I don’t know many business cases where it’s quite that black and white. So that’s the challenge that we have in this space at the moment — there are a lot of different risks, and we’re trying to look for the ones that add the most value.”
Tom Keith-Welsh, Senior Director of Strategy for Digital Health & Innovation, GSK
Digital health initiatives must demonstrate clinical relevance and measurable outcomes and support a sustainable business case. It’s not enough to gather clicks or downloads. Digital health must drive tangible value for the patient, HCP, or health system, and be impactful across the product lifecycle.
One of the most common misconceptions pharma companies face when deciding which metrics represent value in digital health is starting with the solution rather than the problem. Often, organizations look at successful digital health tools in the market and assume that simply adopting or adapting those solutions will address their unique business challenges. However, real value comes from deeply understanding the clinical pathway or portfolio-level challenges they are targeting. Companies can design digital health strategies that align with commercial goals and patient needs only by starting with the problem, its size, and its impact.
This problem-first mindset also means recognizing that digital health solutions aren't one-size-fits-all. Sometimes, a partner's off-the-shelf tool fits well; other times, the solution must be tailored and integrated closely with a therapy to enhance clinical benefits. The future of digital health is moving toward closer integration between drugs and digital technologies, as seen with regulatory developments like the FDA's patient-focused drug development initiatives. This shift underlines the importance of growing drug and digital solutions together, rather than expecting instant success from simply acquiring a digital solution.
Another critical challenge is asking the right questions early on: Is the problem significant enough to warrant investment? How valuable is it to solve, and how should success be measured? Digital health strategies that begin by defining precise, measurable goals have a better chance of delivering meaningful outcomes. Teams that invest time working closely with medical analytics and field experts to clearly identify and quantify the problem can design more effective solutions and establish meaningful KPIs.
“Digital health is becoming the new normal. It will be part of the core business—not necessarily easier to manage, but more common and more integrated over time.”
Daniel Kalanovic, Head of Medical Digital Health, Pfizer
Digital health initiatives need to be deeply embedded within the core business, requiring asset teams to understand and invest in these solutions to realize their full value. The path forward demands collaboration, risk-sharing partnerships, and a mature, business-savvy approach that prioritizes solving actual patient and clinical challenges, not just chasing new technologies.
When webinar participants were polled, demonstrating ROI emerged as the top challenge, underscoring a broader reality: digital health still faces a higher bar than many other investments in life sciences. While innovation is accelerating, companies often struggle to move beyond pilot programs to broader implementation, especially in environments where traditional commercial models and budget structures dominate.
The panelists recognized a need for continuous iteration and long-term investment, but pointed out that mindset can clash with legacy approaches designed around fixed timelines and static deliverables. To build momentum, it's critical to align stakeholders early, establish realistic indicators of success, and embed digital into existing business strategies. This means crafting value propositions and business cases that resonate with leadership and can compete alongside more traditional investments.
One key lesson: a successful pilot is only the beginning for digital health solutions. Without a clear path to integration, reimbursement, and HCP or patient adoption, even well-designed initiatives can stall. A platform mindset — built on cross-functional alignment and reusability across assets — may be essential to overcoming these barriers and unlocking scalable value.
To dive deeper into these insights and gain expert guidance on crafting effective digital health strategies, access the full webinar now. Hear from industry leaders at GSK, Pfizer, and S3 Connected Health as they share practical advice on moving beyond surface-level metrics to designing data-driven solutions that truly solve patient and business challenges.