Digital medicine encompasses a wide range of disciplines, including techbio, healthtech, and biomedical engineering.
[1] Within this broader category, programs that include a prescription medication with an ingestible sensor component are considered digital medicines.
Medications with ingestible sensors are being prescribed in the treatment areas of hypertension, diabetes, hypercholesterolemia, heart failure, Hepatitis C, mental health, HIV, TB and organ transplantation.
[6][7][8] In January 2016, Barton Health became the first institution to commercially offer digital medicines to patients with chronic medical conditions.
However, proponents note that participation in digital medicine programs are voluntary, comply with all applicable laws and standards, and protect patient data in accordance with applicable state and federal privacy regulations, as with other data generated and stored in electronic medical records.