Prescription digital therapeutics (PDTs) are one of the major digital healthcare innovations of all time. They bridge accessibility issues, ongoing care challenges and several other gaps in the healthcare industry. They provide care beyond traditional settings.
The global PDTs market is estimated to reach USD 32.5 billion by 2030, up from USD 6.2 billion in 2023. It is projected to grow at a CAGR of 27.2% from 2024 to 2030.
The recent finalisation of 2025 CMS billing codes for behavioural health PDTs has created a good buzz in the PDTs sector.
What is this buzz around PDTs? Will it live up to the hype?
Read on to know what’s happening in the PDTs sector, understand their use cases and future expansion potential.
What’s happening in the PDTs space? Latest News.
In the digital health industry, a lot has been happening around PDTs.
Re-release of RESET and RESET-O
Two FDA-approved PDTs—RESET and RESET-O—were discontinued after their developer Pear Therapeutics filed for bankruptcy in 2023.
PursueCare, a company offering personalised virtual addiction treatment, acquired these two PDTs last year.
Now, PursueCare is reintroducing these two PDTs to provide self-guided cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT).
Big Health received FDA approval for two PDTs
Big Health, a leading maker of digital health treatments for mental health, received FDA clearance for two PDTs:
- SleepioRx: Digital therapeutic for chronic insomnia and insomnia disorder
- DaylightRx: PDT that delivers cognitive behavioural therapy for generalised anxiety disorder in patients aged 22 and older.
Highmark rebooted PDT coverage in its plans
Highmark Health will now cover eight FDA-cleared prescription digital therapeutics for consumers in its commercial plans.
Highmark is a large regional health insurer that owns a chain of hospitals. It is the first large regional to create medical policy including PDTs.
CMS finalised 2025 billing codes for PDTs
Centres for Medicare and Medicaid finalised 2025 billing codes for some mental health PDTs.
Starting January 1, 2025, clinicians will be able to bill Medicare for providing apps and related services to their patients.
Understanding Prescription Digital Therapeutics (PDTs)
While there’s a lot of buzz around PDTs, let’s understand what they are and how they reshape primary care.
PDTs are software-based medical devices. They offer evidence-based therapy using smartphones, tablets, or other mobile devices.
Unlike health and wellness apps, these are FDA-authorised and prescribed by healthcare professionals. Their safety and efficiency are rigorously studied through clinical trials.
PDTs aim to expand healthcare access to patients who can’t get in-person treatment because of geographical location and availability.
It offers cost-efficient alternatives to conventional treatments and boosts patient engagement.
Many PDTs offer clinicians real-time patient information. This helps in building personalized and on-time treatment.
Who uses PDTs? How does it help them?
Primarily, patients with medical conditions like addiction, mental health concerns, and pain use PDTs. It helps them access therapeutic support and manage their respective issues.
Healthcare professionals use PDTs to help patients follow their treatment plans regularly. PDTs also offer them relevant patient data to identify progress or deterioration and make well-informed medical decisions.
Use Cases
PDT devices help in the treatment of issues like:
Substance use disorder
Some PDTs, like PursueCare’s RESET and RESET-O, offer CBT interventions for addiction recovery. It helps patients identify triggers, preventing relapse.
Mental health and sleep
PDTs, like that from Big Health, offer anxiety and sleep-related CBT-based interventions. Thus, it enhances the mind without excessive dependence on pharmacology.
Pain management
Certain PDTs offer specific pain management and relaxation techniques for chronic conditions like back pain and fibromyalgia. This can reduce dependence on painkillers.
Lifestyle improvement
PDTs can also help with lifestyle-related concerns, including obesity and diabetes. This happens through regular in-app prompts, diet plans, and exercise strategies.
How are they Reshaping Healthcare? Background and Current Status
The drive behind building PDTs is its ability to offer non-invasive, evidence-based, and accessible treatment to patients. They are supposed to be a solution for increasing healthcare expenses.
Currently, the already available PDTs in the market have made major breakthroughs. For instance, therapeutic and mental health care is accessible for remote and underserved zones. This offers immense help for areas with limited mental health professionals.
Treatment expenses are reduced to some extent due to fewer in-person hospital visits and admissions. Healthcare experts can instead monitor patients remotely and intervene on time.
The devices support patients to complete therapy by adhering to all suggestions. PDTs also help providers track patient data and progress. It helps them make timely decisions and enhance overall patient health.
Looking forward
Prescription digital therapeutics is a promising technology for the future of healthcare. It can offer scalable and effective health support. It can also help patients manage their health remotely with the help of experts.
The growing PDT market, its FDA approvals and acceptance from CMS and Highmark have spurred positive hopes. Healthcare providers and patients are eagerly waiting to implement the digital technology, normalise its usage and reap its benefits.
