Digital Therapeutics and Human-Centricity: Innovating Biopsychosocial Well-being

Digital Health promotes patient-centered and quality care delivery by leveraging digital technologies. However, the risk of digitalization is overlooking human needs while promoting technological progress. This is particularly relevant in service industries such as healthcare, where humans, as health professionals and patients, are at the center of the service delivery even when improved by technologies. The emerging literature on Society 5.0 promotes a human-centric approach to innovation to safeguard individuals’ well-being, dignity, and autonomy. This shift emphasizes the importance of patient empowerment and virtuous human-machine interaction within healthcare. Digital Therapeutics (DTx) embody this human-centric approach by delivering nonpharmaceutical cognitive and behavioral interventions. DTx solutions, by implementing sophisticated algorithms and technologies, empower patients to play an active role in managing their own disease. Through a comparative multiple-case study analysis, this work aims to explore how DTx implement a human-centric approach in health interventions. The results will guide the development of a conceptual framework contributing to innovation literature and providing suggestions for healthcare practitioners and DTx developers.