My conversation in “Digital Business Models in Healthcare: The Next Level” Digital health is full of clever ideas. The question that matters is whether people actually use them. That is the focus of my contribution to the new book “Digital Business Models in Healthcare: The Next Level.”

Innovation without adoption is a dead end.

I build products that aim to fit real care pathways and everyday life. Evidence matters, but so do incentives, workflows, usability, and trust. In my conversation for the book I share how I approach these factors so that good science turns into real outcomes.

What I cover in the book

  • Adoption by design. Plan for reimbursement, clinical workflow integration, and a consumer-grade experience from day one.
  • Outcomes over features. Measure use, adherence, and clinical impact instead of counting features.
  • Operating principles. Start with the problem, co-design with patients and clinicians, build evidence early, and ship in learnable increments.
  • Trust at the core. Be clear about data use, build for equity, and make the product explainable. Trust accelerates adoption.

The adoption playbook I use

  1. Map the care pathway. Identify who needs to do what, when, and why. If it does not fit how care is delivered and paid for, it will not scale.
  2. Design for real life. Observe how people actually behave. Remove friction, simplify choices, and meet users where they are.
  3. Prove value with evidence. Define the outcomes that matter, collect real-world data, and publish results.
  4. Align incentives. Make it easy for clinicians to adopt and for payers to reimburse.
  5. Keep the human in the loop. Digital tools should strengthen relationships, not replace them.

Why now

We are past the pilot era. Expectations are higher and budgets are tighter. Digital health products compete with every other app on a person’s phone. Only solutions that are trustworthy, usable, and integrated will last. This book gathers practitioners who have done the hard work and share what actually translates into impact.

Who will get value from this book

  • Health leaders who want modernization without losing quality of care
  • Founders and operators who need a clear route from prototype to reimbursement
  • Clinicians who want tools that truly support patients between visits
  • Payers and policymakers who are ready to reward outcomes

A note of thanks

I am grateful to the editors and contributors for creating a practical and candid collection. I am proud to be part of it.

Read the conversation and get the book

If you care about moving from ideas to adoption, I think you will enjoy it.

Learn more and get your copy: https://www.matthiaspuls.com/book/ukaj

If it sparks ideas or healthy debate, I would love to hear from you.

Ervin Ukaj

Ervin Ukaj is CEO of Newel Health and a digital health executive focused on digital therapeutics, software as a medical device, clinical innovation, AI-enabled health products, and growth strategy. He previously held digital health, digital therapeutics, and SaMD strategy and portfolio roles at Novartis. Earlier, he co-founded Oppimi Group, a digital therapeutics company active in Canada, Italy, and China.

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