What you should know about dissemination and implementation

Creating a product is one thing. Getting people to use it is another, let alone getting them to recommend it to others and keep using it despite other competitive offerings. Here is an example of the process and theoretical underpinnings:

There are several dissemination and implementation science theories, models, and frameworks.

RE-AIM and PRISM guide users to plan, implement, evaluate, and sustain programs with contextual factors in mind, increasing equity and public health relevance

Particularly with digital health products, there are many obstacles to adoption and penetration that every digital health entrepreneur will need to overcome. Here are a few things to know:

1.Dissemination is the intentional, active process of identifying target audiences and tailoring communication strategies to increase awareness and understanding of evidence, and to motivate its use in policy, practice, and individual choices.

2. Implementation is the deliberate, iterative process of integrating evidence into policy and practice through adapting evidence to different contexts and facilitating behavior change and decision making based on evidence across individuals, communities, and healthcare systems.

3. Here are some ABCDEs or technology adoption

4. Dissemination and implementation is but one landmark along the digital health innovation roadmap

5.?Context, engagement, and evaluation are key

6. Here is the PCORI framework and toolkit?

7. Crossing the chasm and lean start ups meets digital health

8. Products need to be technically and clinically validated before they are commercially validated

9. There are significant digital health gaps that impede dissemination and implementation

10. The goal is to cover the AREA under the curve: awareness, relationships, engagement, advocacy

11. There are many factors that affect digital health intervention engagement and there is a lot about it that we still don't know.

12. The research gaps, particularly in digital health adoption and what they achieve, are large. Endpoints can be clinical, experiential or business metrics.

13. Here is the difference between adaptation and adoption.

14. Here is how to use switching theory for root cause analysis

15. You enable behavior change, you need to win the hearts and minds of users and make it easy to switch

Here is a step by step playbook on how to implement digital health technologies at your place.

In this piece, the authors put forth nine dimensions along which clinically validated digital health tools should be examined by health systems prior to adoption, and propose strategies for selecting digital health tools and planning for implementation in this setting. By evaluating prospective tools along these dimensions, health systems can evaluate which existing digital health solutions are worthy of adoption, ensure they have sufficient resources for deployment and long-term use, and devise a strategic plan for implementation.

These authors see five key levers to help business leaders create a culture that will help drive better, more effective tech adoption.

1. Incentivize technology use.?
2. Invest in the infrastructure.
3. Make reskilling and learning part of the plan.
4. Don’t make it piecemeal.
5. Understand how governments and policy are involved.

All of these things should be considered and part of your business model canvas and plan. Otherwise, the dog won't eat the food

Arlen Meyers, MD, MBA is the President and CEO of the Society of Physician Entrepreneurs on Substack and Editor of Digital Health Entrepreneurship