The thing that is breaking digital health is marketing.

One of the most common problems I have seen in digital health is awareness. That’s a big reason that you’ll hear companies talking about “covered lives,” meaning the number of people eligible to use their service via their health plan or employer, versus the number that actually uses them.

That actual numbers of patients who use the service - and not just once for a lark once or twice - is typically very low. Depressingly so.

Is that digital health’s fault? Are founders simply failing to create products that anyone wants to use? Unlikely. Perhaps it’s true for some companies. But that’s way too simplistic for most. I’ve met with plenty of founders with incredible health products, which could do a lot of good in the world if patients discovered them.