Patients are becoming increasingly knowledgeable about their personal health and about the healthcare options available to them – and that is a good thing.

Intouch Solutions’ Sean Hartigan and Heartbeat’s David Sakadelis say their pharma clients are skittish about the use of chatbots and AI, with an understanding of these technologies more influenced by the grim future of Skynet in the “Terminator” movie franchise rather than the reality of where AI is right now.

2018 was the year of the consumer, and there is no sign of a change any time soon.

Are marketers just paying lip service to the idea that the patient is in charge when it comes to developing patient acquisition and support programs?

There is a fundamental disconnect between companies and consumers: Healthcare brands often fail to address patients’ emotional journeys.

Marketers need to dig deeper to facilitate communications that are dynamic enough to reach and engage patients on a more personal, emotional level.

MedBridge, a developer of patient engagement and clinical education software, has launched MedBridge GO – a patient-facing mobile app designed to improve adherence to clinician-assigned home exercise programs (HEP).

TrialScope, the global leader in clinical trial transparency and compliance solutions, announced the launch of the Trial Results Summaries Portal. Through the publicly accessible website, clinical trial sponsors can inform and educate trial participants and the general public about trial results through a non-promotional and unbiased venue.

Last year, when I left Cannes Lions Health, I wondered when the technology explosion would truly begin to trickle down into the hands of the average patient in the waiting room. I left the 2016 festival feeling the same way.

More patients and companies are increasingly adopting mobile health solutions that have created a highly effective platform for patient engagement.