A Dose of Smart Medicine to Make America Healthy Again: A $1 Trillion Win for Health, Innovation, and the Nation

Cureus. 2025 May 12;17(5):e83973. doi: 10.7759/cureus.83973. eCollection 2025 May.

ABSTRACT

Smart medicines are FDA-regulated, evidence-based, smartphone-delivered treatments used alone or alongside drugs. Unlike general health apps, these prescription digital therapeutics are authorized to make treatment claims and are already in use for conditions such as migraine (CT-132), insomnia (Somryst), and major depressive disorder (Rejoyn). They are poised to transform American healthcare. By delivering precision interventions directly into patients’ daily lives, they reduce the chronic disease burden, improve outcomes, and lower costs at scale. Drawing from my experience treating diverse populations across America, training future clinicians, shaping drug formularies, and developing digital therapeutics, I argue that smart medicine is the most promising lever for national health reform. If widely adopted in 2025, these technologies could save over $1 trillion annually while advancing healthcare access, restoring individual productivity, and reasserting U.S. leadership in medical innovation. Aligned with the goals of the Make America Healthier Again (MAHA) initiative, smart medicines support every major U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) priority, improving access, equity, and affordability of healthcare services for chronic diseases, behavioral health, and maternal care, and are thus uniquely positioned to close systemic healthcare gaps. This editorial proposes a federal initiative, Operation Smart Medicine, to accelerate the development, reimbursement, and nationwide deployment of smart medicines. Modeled on successful U.S. programs like Operation Warp Speed for COVID-19 and the HITECH Act for electronic health records, this initiative would enable smart medicines to support HHS/MAHA priorities and deliver scalable, value-based care. The technology exists, the evidence is emerging, and the time to align innovation with implementation is now.

PMID:40357319 | PMC:PMC12068747 | DOI:10.7759/cureus.83973