Digital Therapeutics IPO Filing Highlights Breakthrough in Hypertension Management: 17-Year Patient Reduces Medication Through Insured Digital Exercise Prescription Program

Patients with chronic diseases require lifelong medication due to the specific nature of their conditions, and dosage typically increases as the disease progresses. However, Uncle Li, a man in his seventies with a 17-year history of hypertension, began to reduce his medication under medical supervision after one month of “digital exercise rehabilitation” therapy.

According to the "Report on Monitoring of Chronic Diseases among Residents during the 13th Five-Year Plan Period," the number of chronic disease patients in China is projected to exceed 480 million in 2023, accounting for 30.5% of the total population. Among them, the number of patients with the "three highs"—hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and hyperglycemia—remains persistently high, becoming a major factor threatening the health of Chinese residents and affecting their quality of life. Many people are troubled by issues such as suboptimal disease control and high medical costs.

Multiple clinical practice guidelines for chronic diseases have reached a consensus: in addition to pharmacological treatment, the implementation of exercise prescriptions is a crucial component of chronic disease management. As early as the 1950s, personalized exercise prescriptions began to be developed worldwide for patients with varying chronic disease needs, yielding significant societal benefits. Data from 30 years of chronic disease management experience in the United States indicate that 90% of patients with chronic conditions can reduce their medical expenses to 10% of the original costs through comprehensive management programs that include exercise prescription adherence, while also achieving substantial reductions in the prevalence of coronary heart disease and cerebrovascular disorders.

Exercise prescriptions demonstrate significant therapeutic effects for populations with hypertension, hyperlipidemia, diabetes, obesity, as well as those recovering from cardiac or oncological surgeries, and individuals in a sub-health state. However, substantial challenges persist in their practical implementation under traditional models. In conventional care, patients are required to visit hospitals regularly to perform exercise prescriptions under the guidance of rehabilitation therapists. To prevent exercise-induced injuries, parameters such as exercise content, intensity, and frequency must be monitored simultaneously. This necessitates considerable time investment by therapists per patient, resulting in low work efficiency. Meanwhile, due to the lack of specific, followable, and monitorable training guidance, patients often fail to achieve expected outcomes, leading to gradually declining adherence and eventual discontinuation of the regimen over time.

However, as digital therapeutics mature, the “digital exercise rehabilitation” treatment received by Mr. Li employs digital exercise prescriptions for chronic disease rehabilitation.

“In the past, my hospital visits were solely for regular follow-ups and medication adjustments. Last November, my doctor introduced me to a digital exercise prescription. Knowing that exercise helps stabilize blood pressure, I decided to give it a try.”

After learning about digital exercise prescriptions and realizing that they were covered by medical insurance, Uncle Li joined the program without hesitation. Under the guidance of a rehabilitation therapist, he underwent assessments of his cardiorespiratory fitness, muscle strength, balance, and flexibility, and subsequently received a personalized exercise prescription. He then began a training regimen of five days per week. Each day, after dropping his grandson off at kindergarten, he would complete a 40-minute exercise session at the community hospital before heading to the market and returning home, seamlessly integrating the routine into his daily life. Within just one month, Uncle Li began to reduce his medication under the supervision of his physician, achieving stable blood pressure and a weight loss of 3 kg.

Scientific, effective, and easy to implement, the emergence of digital exercise prescriptions has improved adherence among patients with chronic diseases, providing not only therapeutic benefits but also preventive effects.

“During my first check-up, both my total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) levels exceeded the normal reference ranges. Fearing that my condition would progress to hyperlipidemia, requiring daily medication, I tried a one-month exercise prescription under my doctor’s recommendation,” said 27-year-old Ms. Tang.

Chronic diseases, once considered exclusive to the elderly, are increasingly affecting younger populations due to changes in modern lifestyles. It is not uncommon in hospitals to encounter young patients like Ms. Tang, who are either at the threshold of certain chronic conditions or have already received a definitive diagnosis.

“Since the exercise regimen does not require high intensity, I basically just need to visit the nearby community hospital daily to complete my 30–40 minute exercise prescription. At my second follow-up examination (approximately one month later), I found that both my total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein levels had returned to the normal range. I was thrilled, and I also felt that my overall condition had improved significantly compared to before.”

Ms. Tang was delighted with the significant improvement in her health condition and decided to continue adhering to the “Digital Exercise Prescription.”

“All medications carry some degree of toxicity.” Many patients with chronic diseases who require long-term medication often exhibit strong resistance to drugs. Digital exercise prescriptions can reverse disease progression and help patients reduce their medication dosage, making them an ideal choice for chronic disease management.

Chronic disease management is a comprehensive therapeutic approach encompassing medication, exercise, nutrition, and patient education, requiring substantial human and material resources. In contrast, “Digital Exercise Rehabilitation” requires only a smartphone installed with the digital therapeutic app “Shukang App” and approximately 2 square meters of activity space.

“When patients follow the exercise prescription, they only need to wear heart rate monitoring devices and train along with Shukang’s exercise videos. Physiological data during exercise is monitored in real time, with alarms triggered and automatic cessation initiated if values exceed safe ranges, thereby ensuring the safety and efficacy of the exercise,” introduced the head of a hospital currently implementing the “Digital Exercise Rehabilitation” project. “The efficiency of rehabilitation therapists has been significantly improved; we can now have one therapist simultaneously manage 50 patients.”

With low costs and low barriers to entry, digital sports rehabilitation undoubtedly opens up a new field of rehabilitation for hospitals, enabling them to scale up their rehabilitation services.

“This outpatient medical service is reimbursable through the pooled outpatient mutual aid fund. My out-of-pocket expenses over a year are minimal—lower than what some of my friends pay for gym memberships, even though their results haven’t been as good as mine.” Having experienced the benefits of digital exercise prescriptions, Uncle Li chose to continue with his digital exercise prescription after completing one month of exercise therapy, just like Ms. Tang.

This medical service has been included in the national health insurance program, covering nearly all provinces and municipalities directly under the central government, with reimbursement rates ranging from 50% to 90%. Taking a new first-tier city as an example, the reimbursement rates at primary designated medical institutions are 60% for active employees and 70% for retirees. Assuming the monthly cost of exercise therapy for chronic diseases is RMB 580, after partial reimbursement through the outpatient pooling fund, patients would only need to pay RMB 232 or RMB 174 per month.

Of course, the significant therapeutic efficacy of digital exercise prescriptions is also a major reason for their popularity.

In 2018, a clinical study titled “Impact of Exercise Under Remote Monitoring on Patients with Type 2 Diabetes,” jointly conducted by West China Hospital of Sichuan University and Shukang, found that among patients adhering to digital exercise prescriptions, 9% discontinued medication and 20% reduced their dosage. A patient in his seventies with a five-year history of disease, who had undergone surgery for atrial fibrillation, began using the Shukang App to follow a digital exercise prescription at Jiangsu Province People’s Hospital. After four years, he officially discontinued medication, significantly improving his quality of life in old age.

“Numerous studies and cases have confirmed that digital exercise prescriptions can reverse patients’ conditions, enabling dose reduction or discontinuation of medications. This can significantly reduce national healthcare expenditures and alleviate the medical burden. Meanwhile, for patients, achieving rehabilitation through a side-effect-free approach is highly anticipated, particularly among middle-aged and elderly individuals,” said the director of a community health service center currently implementing a “Digital Exercise Rehabilitation” project.

As China enters a stage of high-quality development, the state has vigorously promoted new quality productive forces and encouraged the accelerated growth of the technology service industry. Digital exercise prescriptions exemplify this trend by integrating healthcare with the internet, thereby transforming knowledge and technology into new quality productive forces. With increasing attention on national health, the industry is seeking a more scientific, cost-effective, and efficient model for chronic disease management. For both hospitals and patients, digital exercise prescriptions may offer an optimal solution.

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