COVID-19: What To Expect From 2022? – This And More News In Digital Health This Week

Among the 3 scenarios we projected for 2021 last October, the most optimistic seemed the most unlikely (hence its name, the fairy-tale scenario), and everyone hoped for the second. At that time, wearing masks in 2022 did not seem likely – at all. And still, here we are, heading towards a pessimistic scenario, living a future we should not have – in our article, COVID-19: What To Expect From 2022? we look at how that is possible and where we are at.

More In This Newsletter: Healthcare innovation, digital health rake in big investment dollars in Q3; Can a person who tracks their steps ever truly be free?; FDA offers best practices for patient-facing alert on medical device vulnerabilities; Coronavirus: will we go back seeing our GPs face to face? – check out this week’s newsletter below.

Take care,

Berci

HEALTHCARE INNOVATION, DIGITAL HEALTH RAKE IN BIG INVESTMENT DOLLARS IN Q3

Investors have poured more into healthcare this year – $97.1 billion – than any other industry, according to CB Insights’ State of Venture Q3’21 Report. Across the board, digital health deal sizes so far this year are the biggest they’ve ever been, according to the report. Average funding has more than doubled since 2017 for Series A, B and C+ rounds in 2021.

After the record-setting year in digital health 2020, this year seems to set the bar even higher. Let's hope all this money will be used well, for the benefit of all of us.

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CAN A PERSON WHO TRACKS THEIR STEPS EVER TRULY BE FREE?

First, we counted our steps, then our heartbeats, blood pressure and respiratory rates. We monitored our sleep, workouts, periods and fertility windows. But there is plenty left to measure as we are sold the promise of self-optimisation by the vast and sometimes controversial frontier of health tracking – an increasingly medicalised market that has flourished since pedometers went digital and watch got smart. But will it make us healthier? And is it wise to sacrifice ever more intimate data?

For me, data is my primary source of motivation when it comes to my health and lifestyle. However, I am cautious in sharing all these and wherever I can I cal for providers and regulators for stricter policies on third-party data use. I was asked by The Guardian for this article – check out what I responded!

READ HERE?

FDA OFFERS BEST PRACTICES FOR PATIENT-FACING ALERT ON MEDICAL DEVICE VULNERABILITIES

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration released a new best practices document this week to help healthcare actors and government agencies design a communication approach regarding cybersecurity vulnerabilities. The authors hope that this document may be a useful resource for industry stakeholders and federal partners.

Yet another breakthrough from the FDA! The authority believes cybersecurity risks should be easily accessible and available – a forward-looking step I can only support with full width.

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CORONAVIRUS: WILL WE GO BACK TO SEEING OUR GPS FACE TO FACE?

Ministers say GP practices in England must offer face-to-face appointments to patients who want them, alongside offers of telephone and video consultations. The Royal College of GPs said it is concerned about a growing public perception that remote consultations are “substandard” compared with seeing a GP in the surgery.

I believe we should find a new balance between online and personal meetings with GPs, optimising these for the better good: not wasting time for doctors and patients while allowing enough space for the cure. All these concerns and regulations support the wider discussion – which is a good thing.

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MORE NEWS ABOUT THE FUTURE OF MEDICINE

A.I. TOILET? – Motoilet Health Tracking A.I. Smart Bidet Toilet Seat review?

DATA ACCESS – Millions of people in England to get access to digital health libraries?

ANTI SOCIAL ROBOT – New robots patrolling for 'anti-social behaviour' causing unease in Singapore streets?

HACKED INSULIN PUMPS – Medtronic issues ‘urgent’ recall of insulin pump controller vulnerable to hacks

And that’s that for now! Find me on my other channels: Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, and get more insights on The Medical Futurist website. If you want to support our work, please do so on Patreon ??

Thank you,

Berci