Opportunities for digital health technology: identifying unmet needs for bipolar misdiagnosis and depression care management

Abstract

Introduction: Digital health technologies (DHTs) driven by artificial intelligence applications, particularly those including predictive models derived with machine learning methods, have garnered substantial attention and financial investment in recent years. Yet, there is little evidence of widespread adoption and scant proof of gains in patient health outcomes. One factor of this paradox is the disconnect between DHT developers and digital health ecosystem stakeholders, which can result in developing technologies that are highly sophisticated but clinically irrelevant. Here, we aimed to uncover challenges faced by psychiatrists treating patients with major depressive disorder (MDD). Specifically, we focused on challenges psychiatrists raised about bipolar disorder (BD) misdiagnosis. Methods: We conducted semi-structured interviews with 10 United States–based psychiatrists. We applied text and thematic analysis to the resulting interview transcripts. Results: Three main themes emerged: (1) BD is often misdiagnosed, (2) information crucial to evaluating BD is often occluded from clinical observation, and (3) BD misdiagnosis has important treatment implications. Discussion: Using upstream stakeholder engagement methods, we were able to identify a narrow, unforeseen, and clinically relevant problem. We propose an organizing framework for development of digital tools based upon clinician-identified unmet need.