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T
he global consumer healthcare indus-
try is curious about mHealth – an ab-
breviation of mobile health – but has
yet to really jump in and invest heav-
ily in what is still a very young sector, accord-
ing to Jo Pisani, a partner at Pricewaterhouse-
Coopers (PwC).
“We are seeing a lot of growth in the
mHealth segment,” pointed out Pisani – who
leads PwC’s UK and European Pharmaceuti-
cals and Life Sciences consulting team – “but
we are yet to see it change the way healthcare
is delivered to consumers.”
However, this change was coming, Pisani
insisted. “The digital revolution is clearly pre-
senting pharma companies with a host of op-
portunities to improve outcomes for patients,
efficiency for payors, and profitability for them-
selves,” she added (see Figure 1). “However,
they need to move quickly to seize these op-
portunities, ahead of newer and nimbler en-
trants to the market.”
Non-healthcare firms were already looking
at how they could use their expertise in technol-
ogy and data to exploit the potential of mHealth,
Pisani noted.
As a result, the mHealth sector could end
up driven by consumer-electronics companies
such asApple and Samsung, Pisani said, or data
providers like Google or Microsoft that knew
how to glean insights from the vast amounts
of information to which they had access.
Even technology component manufacturers
had entered the space, Pisani noted, with Qual-
comm – which produces 3G, 4G and next-gen-
eration wireless technologies – signing a deal
with pharmaceutical firm Roche to develop
remote-monitoring products.
“Companies like Apple, Google and Sam-
sung have the skills and the trusted brands to
develop and scale digital-health apps quickly,”
she pointed out.
“Our own research has shown that consum-
ers are willing to take healthcare services from
these non-traditional providers if they offer a
price advantage,” Pisani explained. “This shows
how vulnerable the conventional healthcare
business model could prove to be.”
Consumer healthcare firms needed quick-
ly to get a handle on how this technology could
be used to grow their businesses, Pisani warn-
ed, or they could end up missing out.
Emerging out of the development of
‘eHealth’– the use of computers, mobile phones,
communications satellites and patient moni-
toring devices to provide healthcare services –
mHealth generally covers healthcare support-
ed by mobile devices.
The term most commonly refers to using
mobile communication devices, such as smart-
phones and tablet computers, to provide health-
care services and information.
Changes in consumption habits
“Digital technology is changing fundamental-
ly the way people consume products and data,”
Pisani claimed. “But for the healthcare and life
sciences industries it may have come just in the
nick of time, as the increasing burdens of chronic
disease and ageing populations threaten to over-
whelm overstretched healthcare systems.”
These technologies could help deliver the
efficiencies and cost savings that would make
healthcare viable again, Pisani added. Further-
more, it offered the prospect of a “complete
transformation in the way pharma companies
research, produce and market their products,
and how patients receive many of them”.
“In developed markets, these technologies
are already streamlining healthcare provision,
as basics like appointment bookings go online,
and people take more control of their own health
through fitness and nutrition apps,” Pisani said.
Furthermore, mHealth also had the ability to
transform access to healthcare across the devel-
oping world, Pisani pointed out, noting that in
Sub-Saharan Africa 42.2% of the population
would have access to a smartphone by 2020.
As smartphone penetration increased, the ac-
cessibility of apps such as Med Africa – which
gives users in Kenya access to health informa-
tion – would increase the level of patient educa-
tion and improve disease outcomes, she claimed.
The developing world, Pisani argued, might
be where mHealth really came into its own.
The need for access to better healthcare was
more acute in those markets, she noted, but in-
stead of having to build physical infrastruc-
ture, mHealth technologies could enable re-
mote healthcare delivery, giving people access
to healthcare professionals and information
in a much more efficient manner.
It might be the case that these technologies
would blossom where the need was most urg-
ent, Pisani hypothesised, before they dripped
down into developed markets.
mHealth also had the potential to change
almost every aspect of the ‘patient journey’,
Pisani pointed out, improving both the “effi-
ciency of healthcare provision, and the out-
comes for those who receive it”.
Taking diabetes as an example, Pisani said
that it was already possible, thanks to mHealth
20 OTC bulletin 6 March 2015
OTC BUSINESS STRATEGY
Will consumer healthcare go mobile?
Mobile technology is forecast fundamentally to change how healthcare is
delivered and managed. But with the bulk of innovation focused on primary
care, will mHealth technology really change perceptions of well-being in the
consumer healthcare arena? Matt Stewart reports on this dynamic sector.
While the ‘worried well’ are driving the growth of wearable wellness devices, such as FitBit fitness trackers, the
older generation could be the demographic on which to focus
Jo Pisani, partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers, says
consumer healthcare companies could be doing more
to exploit the growth in mHealth technologies

technologies, for someone with the condition
to help with their disease management and diet
by uploading their blood-glucose reading auto-
matically from their monitoring device to their
smartphone and then sharing it remotely with
their doctor, using apps such as Glooko, Wave-
Sense Diabetes Manager or GlaxoSmithKline’s
Diabetes HealthMate.
Patients could also connect with fellow
patients via tools like Diabetic Connect or
PatientsLikeMe, she added, and monitor the
early warning signs of complications such as
diabetic foot-ulcers via home-based diagnostic
systems like Podimetrics.
It was true that consumer healthcare firms
were limited somewhat by regulations on what
data they were allowed to collect and how they
could use that data, Pisani pointed out. But in
the retail channel, there were fewer obstacles
and this could be an easy win for both retail-
ers and consumer healthcare companies.
Using the example of Boots in the UK,
Pisani said that as well as being the country’s
biggest pharmacy chain, its Advantage Card
scheme was one of the most successful loy-
alty programmes in retail.
The data that the Advantage Card gave
Boots should enable it to offer a number of
digital products – most notably apps for smart-
phones – that aided the consumer when making
purchasing decisions in store and helped track
the use of products to aid managing less-seri-
ous medical conditions, Pisani maintained.
This type of mHealth offering was in dev-
elopment, Pisani noted, and apps created by
Boots’ US counterpart Walgreens offered a
glimpse of what could be done.
Walgreens – which has used the Advantage
Card scheme as the basis for its own fledgling
loyalty programme – already offers an app
which allows users to access their prescription
status, reminds users when to take their medi-
cines and enables them to make appointments
at Walgreens and its in-store clinics.
Furthermore, the app allows users to scan
the label on their prescription bottles and order
a refill that is ready for collection in an hour.
Away from the prescription side, the app
also gives users access to weekly coupons
and – when a user opens the app in a Wal-
greens store – it helps the user quickly to ac-
cess their digital loyalty card and guides them
around the store to the items they want.
It was these types of developments that
could bring consumer healthcare companies
more seriously into the mHealth space, Pisani
said, by offering them a commercial incentive
through better access to consumers and direct
communication during the shopper’s journey.
One question that lingers is whether there is
a market for mHealth in the consumer health-
care space beyond the branded commercial apps
aimed simply at selling product to consumers?.
Pisani said that while the commercial capa-
bilities of the technology would remain im-
portant for consumer healthcare companies,
the pharmacist could play a key role in draw-
ing down some of the mHealth developments
seen in primary care to a consumer level.
“Pharmacists are getting more involved in
advanced and enhanced services, be it man-
aging cholesterol, smoking cessation or even
screening for diseases such as breast cancer,”
Pisani pointed out.
Furthermore, pharmacists had direct access
to the consumers that OTC companies wanted,
she added, so developing technologies that link-
ed the consumer, the pharmacist and the com-
pany could be a way forward.
Widen scope of consumer healthcare
This raised the possibility that mHealth in
conjunction with pharmacists could widen the
scope of what was considered consumer health-
care, Pisani said, as a healthcare profession-
al was still involved but there was no need
for primary-care intervention.
Management of chronic conditions was a
clear area of opportunity, Pisani explained,
noting that many OTC products already offer-
ed relief from conditions such as arthritis.
Currently, a doctor was still the first port of
call for people with chronic conditions, Pisani
said. But if mHealth technologies were used
to help patients better manage their conditions,
she noted, and provided a direct link to a
216 March 2015 OTC bulletin
BUSINESS STRATEGY OTC
Developers are constantly looking for innovative
and exciting ways to interact with patients and
keep them engaged with their own wellbeing.
One way to do this is to ‘gamify’ the process of
patient education or monitoring, incorporating
elements of video gameplay or competition
into routine tasks.
Collect and monetise
real-world data
One of the benefits of interacting with
patients through digital technology is that a
whole host of real-world data is collected
automatically. Tracked data points might
include anything from clinical care episodes,
adherence rates and dosing, to patient
reported outcomes (ie. how the patient is
feeling as a result of the medication). This
data has real value and can be monetised.
Sell outcomes, not pills
The final step in leveraging digital health tools
is for pharma to take on more of the risk of
healthcare provision, shifting that risk away
from payors. Pharma has a unique
opportunity to position itself as not just a
pill provider but as a disease manager, own-
ing the end-to-end patient journey.
Leverage real-world data to demonstrate efficacy
Real-world data is particularly valuable to pharma as part of the regulatory
and reimbursement process, in which they have to demonstrate how the
efficacy of their drug justifies their price tag. Having real world data in
addition to those collected in clinical trials can provide the payor with a
better picture of the true value of a product.
Engage and activate patients
Improve medication adherence
The list of devices and apps that have been
developed to remind and track patients pill-tak-
ing is endless. Improving adherence rates is
often the single most profitable avenue for
pharma to take when it comes to digital health,
but many firms have yet to figure out how to do
so most effectively.
Improve access
mHealth has the ability to transform access
to healthcare across the developing world. As
smartphone penetration rises, the accessibility
of apps such as Med Africa will increase
the level of patient education and improve
disease outcomes.
Increase disease and
treatment awareness
One of the most common applications of
healthcare apps on the market today is to push
educational materials to both patients and
physicians or even support doctors in
making treatment and dosing decisions.
By interacting with their customers, pharma
can achieve greater brand loyalty.
Figure 1: Opportunities for pharmaceutical companies generated by mHealth technologies (Source – PricewaterhouseCoopers – worldinbeta.com/mhealth)

pharmacist who was trained to offer advice on
the condition, the need to visit a doctor would
be reduced.
Looking at the consumer for mHealth, Pisani
pointed out that while the “worried well” were
the current early adopters of consumer health-
care mHealth products and services – primar-
ily the fitness-monitoring technologies such
as Fitbit – the older generation might be the
demographic to target.
Many people believed that technology scared
or was unattractive to older people, but that
could be overcome if the products were devel-
oped with older people in mind, Pisani said.
To prove that mHealth products could be
designed successfully for older people, PwC
had developed an app aimed at those with Alz-
heimer’s disease. It featured the “right types
of activities that help people with the condi-
tion”, Pisani explained, “such as diaries and
games to stimulate memory”.
It was also worth remembering, Pisani said,
that the ageing population around the world
was one of the biggest worries for national
healthcare systems.
As people lived longer, they would be deal-
ing with more chronic conditions, she noted,
putting more pressure on healthcare resources.
By developing mHealth products that en-
abled this population better to manage their
own health and wellness, Pisani said, consum-
er healthcare companies could help alleviate
pressure on healthcare systems around the world
while growing their own businesses.
“To take full advantage of the opportunities
digital offers, pharma companies need to take
a hard look at the industry’s value chain and
identify where to play and – critically – who
to collaborate with,” Pisani pointed out.
“Pharma businesses can capitalise on
mHealth. But they must ensure they have the
flexible revenue and operating models needed
to make a success of it,” she argued, “as well as
a well thought-out strategy to maximise the
value of the data they collect.”
Looking further ahead, the pharmaceutical
industry also needed to identify how it could
“move into the third digital wave, and make
the shift from selling products to selling out-
comes”, Pisani warned. It needed to figure out
how it could “develop a new and more profit-
able business model by taking on more of the
risk of healthcare provision from the payors”.
“The tools exist to do that now, if the
courage can be found to use them,” Pisani
stated. “In fact, pharma has a unique opportu-
nity to improve the prognosis for its own in-
dustry by becoming not just a pill provider but
a health and disease manager, and taking own-
ership of the whole patient journey, end to end.”
22 OTC bulletin 6 March 2015
OTC BUSINESS STRATEGY
OTC
Walgreens’ smartphone app linked to its loyalty
scheme allows customers to order prescription
refills and also guides them around stores to the
products they want

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