Clinitouch-360: A digital health platform enabling robust end-to-end care of patients in Primary Care with depression and anxiety

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Public descriptionIn the UK \\\>10 million people aged 18+ (16.7% of the adult population) have depression (costing £70 billion/year from 91 million days of lost work, plus health and social care costs) and \\\>8 million have an anxiety disorder.Despite the prevalence of these conditions and shared treatment modalities (talking therapy, medication, self-support) patients presenting with anxiety and depression can experience significant problems with their care:* Incorrect diagnosis due to insufficient initial assessment (the prevalence of unrecognised bipolar disorder is 10% amongst patients prescribed antidepressants in primary care for depression or anxiety).* Deteriorating mental health during delays waiting for treatment initiation (talking therapy waitlists are 3-5 months; a 2022 Royal College of Psychiatrists report stated 43% of patients experience decline whilst waiting to start treatment).* Only 40% of patients receive medication reviews within time frames recommended in NICE guidelines, resulting in patients taking ineffective medications, or experiencing serious side effects.* Studies indicate that 30--60% of long-term antidepressant prescriptions are inappropriate.* 56% of people reducing antidepressants experience withdrawal symptoms. 46% of these patients describe their symptoms as severe and lasting for weeks or months. Gradual and hyperbolic tapering to medication cessation can mitigate this, but patients do not receive specialist support for this.* Clinicians frequently experience difficultly differentiating withdrawal symptoms from disease re-emergence when withdrawing antidepressants or anxiolytics.There is an unmet need for a digital tool supporting precision medicine and improved end-to-end management of these patients in primary care to achieve better outcomes.Solution: Spirit Digital has commercialised the 'Clinitouch' remote patient monitoring platform. Spirit will create a new module (Clinitouch-360) to better manage patients with anxiety and depression from their initial presentation.Clinitouch-360 will automate time-consuming elements of NICE guidance that prevent best practice being followed and deploy technological innovations that support patients across their treatment pathway.