Physician Views: A NICE boost for insomnia digital therapeutics?

The recent endorsement of Big Health’s Sleepio insomnia app by the UK health technology assessment body, the National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE), was a big win for the company and the broader digital therapeutics sector. 

NICE gave its backing based on evidence from 12 randomised controlled trials which showed that Sleepio is more effective at reducing insomnia than the standard, sleep hygiene-and-medication standard of care, and health economic data which highlighted the app was able to bring cost-savings to the NHS.

Does this mark a turning point for Sleepio and other insomnia digital therapeutics, notably Pear Therapeutics’ Somryst? A snap-poll conducted by FirstWord one year ago found that more than half of the physician respondents were already choosing a non-pharma intervention over sleeping pills as first-line therapy - however, digital therapeutics did not feature highly among the non-pharma solutions that were recommended to patients.

To find out if the situation has changed, or whether latest developments like the NICE guidance is impacting physicians’ views, we are launching another survey to clinicians in the US and Europe.

The questions we are asking cover the following: 

• The average % of insomnia patients who are prescribed a non-pharma intervention as first-line therapy in the last 12 months

• The popular categories of non-pharma interventions that are being prescribed to insomnia patients

• Physicians’ knowledge about the digital therapeutic apps available to treat insomnia

• Physicians’ experience with Sleepio

• The potential impact of NICE’s recommendation for Sleepio on prescribing trends

Notify me of the results