UC S.O.L.V.E. Health Tech's mission is to make sure health technology can work for everyone.
In 2021, we saw $29.1 billion dollars invested in digital health. However, we have not seen a meaningful, sustained reduction in healthcare expenditures or health disparities. This is because the same patient populations that are disproportionately burdened by disease are the most likely to face barriers in health technology use, such as:
- Lack of appropriate content for diverse populations
- Products only available in English
- Usability issues that impede access to content for diverse populations
- Unsuccessful translation from pilot to real-world settings
- Significant misconception about market opportunity to serve Medicaid populations
Among adults in the U.S. older than 65 years, 35-40% do not own a smartphone or have home broadband access. Similarly, individuals with low income also face barriers to device and internet access, despite high interest in using technology to manage their health. We must design digital health tools with and for populations that have been marginalized and minoritized to begin improving health outcomes and reducing health care costs
We started S.O.L.V.E. Health Tech to ensure that patients like ours are not left behind in the digital health revolution. We make digital health products more accessible for all patients, not just the tech-enabled. By partnering with S.O.L.V.E. Health Tech, digital health will finally be able to move the needle towards reducing health care costs and improving health equity.