Digital health technologies and innovation patterns in diabetes ecosystems.

Abstract

Background: The global rise in type-2 diabetes (T2D) has prompted the development of new digital technologies for diabetes management. However, despite the proliferation of digital health companies for T2D care, scaling their solutions remains a critical challenge. This study investigates the digital transformation of T2D ecosystems and seeks to identify key innovation patterns. We examine: (1) What are emerging organizations in digital diabetes ecosystems? (2) What are the value streams in digital T2D ecosystems? (3) Which innovation patterns are present in digital T2D ecosystems?

Methods: We conducted a literature review and market analysis to characterize organizations and value streams in T2D ecosystems, pre- and post-digital transformation. We used the e3-value methodology to visualize T2D ecosystems (RQ1 and RQ2) and conducted expert interviews to identify emerging innovation patterns in digital diabetes ecosystems (RQ3).

Results: Our analyses revealed the emergence of eight organization segments in digital diabetes ecosystems: real-world evidence analytics, healthcare management platforms, clinical decision support, diagnostic and monitoring, digital therapeutics, wellness, online community, and online pharmacy (RQ1). Visualizing the value streams among these organizations highlights the crucial importance of individual health data (RQ2). Furthermore, our analysis revealed four major innovation patterns within the digital diabetes ecosystem: open ecosystem strategies, outcome-based payment models, platformization, and user-centric software (RQ3).

Conclusions: Our findings illustrate the transition from traditional value chains in T2D care to platform-based and outcome-oriented models. These innovation patterns can inform strategic decisions for companies and healthcare providers, potentially helping anticipate new digital trends in diabetes care and across other chronic disease ecosystems.