Q&A With Scott Snyder, Chief Digital Officer at EVERSANA

Scott Snyder, chief digital officer at EVERSANA, spoke with Pharmaceutical Executive about what he expects to see in 2024 in the pharmaceutical industry from a technology standpoint.

Pharmaceutical Executive: What are some of the big themes you see moving into 2024 across the healthcare and technology space?

Scott Snyder: As the calendar turns to 2024, there’s a technological revolution ahead that will continue to change how companies work and are structured. Next year will further shape the future of healthcare and demand a reevaluation of customer experiences as well as business and operating models to capture the full benefits.

PE: We’ve heard so much talk about Gen AI. Will this continue to be a headline topic in 2024?

Snyder: Gen AI’s capability will continue to advance at a torrid pace with higher-order tasks like reasoning, math, analytics, multimodal interactions and more coming faster than you could ever imagine. Change management and data/content challenges inside organizations will hinder adoptions, but those that can overcome it will start to separate from the pack.

PE: What about digital therapeutics? Seems to be a fast growing sector?

Snyder: I really think there will be a revival in this area in the year ahead. The digital health solutions focus will shift from pure-play digital therapeutics to digital biomarkers, companion solutions and remote patient monitoring, fueled by the pharmaceutical industry, as brands work to better connect therapies to the broader care journey.

PE: How will consumer experiences drive how brand interact with patients or clinicians?

Snyder: Consumers expect today that their healthcare experience will be like buying things on Amazon or Shopify. The healthcare sector is starting to move this way with Direct-to-Patient solutions that meet rising user expectations. This includes self-diagnosis aids and telehealth solutions to improve time to diagnosis and therapy for more complex conditions such as immunology and rare diseases. We’ve still got a way to go but look for more of this in 2024.

PE: What about virtual reality in 2024? Will patients soon use Google Glasses and such during treatment?

Snyder: While Virtual reality has struggled to reach mass adoption, Apple’s Vision Pro release will set a new bar for the Extended Reality experience and propel a new wave of medical use cases including remote surgery, training, collaboration, and digital twins.

PE: Will we continue to see technology change on the retail pharmacy side for consumers?

Snyder: I believe we will, and I think we will see changes in two things. First, retail care points like CVS or Walmart and virtual care platforms like Amazon will continue to increase their capabilities aided by AI-enabled physician assistants and/or nurses to handle more complex conditions across a variety of disease categories including neurology, cardio, immunology, and more. The gains in patient accessibility will be massive.

And second, the way people access these retail shops will continue to get more convenient. Think Uber for your prescription pick-up.

PE: What has you most excited as a Chief Digital Officer about what’s ahead in 2024?

Snyder: There has never been a more exciting time when emerging technologies like Generative AI have been so accessible for life science companies, providers, and patients which gives us the opportunity to truly move the needle on accelerating the care journey and improving outcomes! We’ll see more of this evolution in 2024, and I can’t wait to see the impact we’ll make for the better of our industry and patients.