Digital Health Has Grown Up. Now It Needs to Deliver.

July 8, 2025

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We’re more than a decade into digital health as an industry, and a lot of companies are still selling good vibes and vague promises. They’re building glossy apps that make all the right noises about engagement, access, and personalization, but deliver… what exactly?

Here’s the reality:

80% of digital health products have little or no evidence
Only 20% of digital health tools meet clinical trial standards
We’re wasting $300B in healthcare spend due to treatment non-adherence
And it’s especially bad for chronic condition patients: 50% are non-adherent

Too many companies are prioritizing click-throughs over scientifically robust solutions that actually deliver outcomes, long-term.

The digital health industry needs to move past promises and start delivering results. That means proving real impact: lower costs, better outcomes, real adherence, and higher quality. And that’s the bar we’ve set at Sidekick Health.

Hype vs. Hard Data

If you want to know what happens when digital health over-promises and under-delivers, just read the PHTI report on digital diabetes solutions. It was, to put it mildly, a bloodbath.

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Rightfully so! When the primary goal is to impress investors rather than deliver solutions, it results in a confusing experience at every layer that leads to lower sustained utilization, zero outcomes, and no ROI. And, the lack of treatment adherence isn’t just a common problem—it’s a catastrophic one.

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Every year, non-adherence contributes to up to 25% of hospitalizations, 125,000+ deaths, and a staggering $300 billion in avoidable U.S. health spend. This isn’t a UX problem—it’s an economic crisis built on life-and-death realities. If digital health isn’t built to radically shift adherence in service of driving tangible health outcomes, it’s perpetuating waste under the guise of innovation.

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But there’s a simple solution: outcomes + evidence + adherence = real value. That’s it.

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When digital health moves past just pleasing investors and delivers on the needs of patients, health payers, and pharma alike, there isn’t a loser in the game.

Patients get tools they actually want to use, driving improved health outcomes.
Health plans see real, significant cost reductions
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Pharma gets better adherence and outcomes.
Providers get more support for patients.
The ecosystem finally works.

Just look at the companies getting it right: Hinge Health came out swinging with a $3B valuation, and Omada Health was hot on their heels. That’s not just a win for those companies. It’s a signal to the entire market: when you combine great user experience with real, provable, repeatable outcomes, the value speaks for itself.

Sidekick Health’s Approach: Outcomes First, Always

Sidekick’s not here to sell features and empty promises. We’re here to deliver outcomes.

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We work with the best minds in medicine, technology, and behavior science to build each condition program. That includes clinical key opinion leaders, frontline care teams, UX experts, and commercial partners from pharma, health plans, and regulatory bodies like DiGA.

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Then we put those programs in front of real people: patients who live with these conditions every day. Focus groups. Patient Association Groups. If they don’t love it, we go back to the drawing board. We want Sidekick programs to be so good, patients recommend them to friends — even the ones who don’t share their condition.

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We study every program. We run trials, publish peer-reviewed research, and track real-world results with our partners. Because it’s not just about feeling good. It’s about getting better. This model can serve as a case study across the digital health ecosystem because it works, and it works for patients, health plans, and pharma alike.

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That’s 20+ conditions, designed to stand alone or as part of the only multi-condition platform stretching across 5 therapeutic categories, all creating a seamless experience for patients and care teams. We improve therapy adherence and persistence for pharma partners and reduce cost-of-care and utilization for health plans, all while improving member well-being. It’s a win, win, win.

Results speak for themselves.

Want to learn more about implementing digital-first health solutions?

We Know the Stakes

We’re not building in a vacuum. We know what our partners need, and we build to meet those targets.

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For health plans: Cost-of-care outcomes matter, and our data speaks for itself:

25% reduction in 30-day hospital readmissions (real-world data with a US plan partner)
23% reduction in in-patient admissions for oncology patients (real-world data with a US plan partner)
4x ROI across multiple treatment areas — and yes, we put our fees at risk to prove it

For pharma: We complement the therapy, boost adherence, and support value-based strategies.

7x greater A1c reduction for type 2 diabetes vs. standard of care
50% improvement in shortness of breath for heart failure patients
Measurable increases in adherence and quality of life for patients in oncology

For patients: It’s simple. They feel better. They stick with treatment. And they tell us (and their providers) that they actually enjoy the experience.

The Bottom Line

Digital health is growing up. We’re past participation trophies, and that means we have to move beyond nice ideas and start delivering measurable outcomes that actually matter.

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At Sidekick, we’re here for it. We’re building solutions that are beautiful and effective, evidence-based and engaging. Solutions that don’t just talk the talk—they walk it, measure it, and publish it.

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We’re not done pushing. We’re proud of what we’ve built. And we’re partnering with companies who are taking digital health to the most impactful level, because the next generation of digital health won’t be defined by innovation for innovation’s sake—but by the companies willing to measure what matters and who build for results.

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Sidekick Health is one of those companies.

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If you’re ready to do more than hope for impact—let's talk.

About the author

Travis Parkinson

President of Healthcare, Sidekick Health

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