HealthTech Horizons
March 18th, 2024
What's in this edition:
Insight Spotlight:?Emerging technologies in health IT are playing a crucial role in improving patient outcomes and transforming healthcare delivery. Here is what is on the horizon for health IT.
Innovator's Radar:?Fabric, bolstered by $80M in funding and recent acquisitions, addresses healthcare's capacity issues through its tech suite, while WebMD's acquisition of Healthwise expands its patient engagement solutions, solidifying its presence in over 650 healthcare organizations nationwide.
Decoding Digital Health:?The world of electronic health records (EHRs) and electronic medical records (EMRs) is evolving swiftly with trends like better data sharing, cloud security, standardization, robotic automation, telehealth growth, and the rise of tech like AI, wearables, and blockchain.
Industry Pulse:?Investors are increasingly turning their attention to women's health, as evidenced by Deloitte's analysis of US health tech investment trends, but persistent challenges remain.
Hot Topics:?Healthcare professionals' software buying behavior reflects a strong emphasis on staff acceptance, training challenges, and IT security concerns, with customer reviews and product trials playing pivotal roles in vendor selection.
Data Dive:?The 2024 outlook for private equity in US healthcare highlights key trends impacting providers, payers, pharma, medtech, and life science tools, shaping investment strategies in the sector.
Insight Spotlight:?
Emerging technologies in health IT are playing an important role in improving patient outcomes and transforming healthcare delivery. Here are some Health IT emerging technologies shaping the healthcare landscape according to the Healthcare IT Today:
Why it matters: Emerging technologies in Health IT are improving patient outcomes and healthcare delivery. These innovations streamline processes, enhance diagnostic accuracy, and augment healthcare professionals' capabilities. However, careful consideration of patient safety, ethical considerations, and the need for standards and certification programs is essential to ensure the responsible and effective integration of these technologies into healthcare systems.
Innovator's Radar:?
Fabric, backed by $80M in funding and two recent acquisitions, is tackling healthcare's capacity challenges with its suite of technology solutions, including telemedicine platforms and conversational AI assistants, aimed at streamlining workflows and improving patient access and engagement across a rapidly growing number of health systems and payers.
Targeting Healthcare Workflow Streamlining: Fabric aims to streamline workflows and improve patient access and engagement across a rapidly expanding network of health systems and payers.
Integration of Recent Acquisitions: Recent acquisitions, including Zipnosis and Gyant, broaden Fabric's capabilities in asynchronous virtual care and digital front door solutions, respectively, enhancing its ability to meet diverse healthcare needs.
Rapid Growth and Market Impact: With a customer base spanning 70 health systems and payers, Fabric's technology solutions are gaining traction, facilitating the treatment of approximately 5 million patients through its telemedicine platform.
Why it matters: Fabric's approach to healthcare technology, coupled with significant funding and strategic acquisitions, underscores the importance of digital solutions in addressing healthcare capacity constraints. By streamlining workflows and enhancing patient engagement, Fabric's initiatives have the potential to transform healthcare delivery, ultimately improving outcomes and accessibility for patients.
WebMD's recent acquisition of Healthwise ? marks a strategic move to bolster its patient engagement solutions and expand its reach in the healthcare sector, solidifying its position as a leading provider of health education and content resources.
Acquisition of Healthwise Assets: WebMD acquired the operating assets of Healthwise, encompassing content, products, technology, client relationships, and trademarks, to enhance its patient and member engagement tools.
Integration into WebMD Ignite: Healthwise's assets will integrate into WebMD Ignite, a brand offering tech solutions to providers and health plans, enabling WebMD to offer comprehensive patient education and content resources.
Expanded Footprint: The merger enables WebMD to extend its services to over 650 healthcare organizations, including more than half of the hospitals in the U.S. and 85% of the top 20 payers, strengthening its presence in the healthcare landscape.
Building on Past Acquisitions: The acquisition of Healthwise builds upon WebMD's previous acquisition of Krames, a clinical patient education platform in 2020, further consolidating its position as a market leader in patient and member education.
Creating Market Dominance: By combining Healthwise with Krames, WebMD aims to become the undisputed market leader in patient and member education, with a significant presence across various healthcare sectors, including payer, ambulatory, and acute care markets.
Why it matters: By merging Healthwise's assets with WebMD's existing platform, the combined organization can now offer enhanced patient education resources to over 650 healthcare organizations, amplifying its impact on healthcare communication and improving access to reliable health information. This consolidation not only strengthens WebMD's market position but also underscores the growing importance of patient engagement and education in enhancing healthcare outcomes and empowering them to make informed decisions about their health.
Decoding Digital Health:?
Electronic health records (EHRs) and electronic medical records (EMRs) are undergoing significant transformations . As we look forward, it's important to understand the key trends shaping the future of these essential systems.
Interoperability Policies: EHR developers and IT specialists are prioritizing updates to comply with interoperability policies, ensuring seamless data exchange between systems. CMS policies for 2024 further promote interoperability, fostering better healthcare coordination.
Cloud Computing: With the rise in cyber threats like hacking and phishing, encrypted cloud computing is gaining traction in healthcare, offering enhanced security for patient data storage and accessibility.
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Standardization: Standardized regulations under the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology are driving the adoption of standardized APIs, facilitating easier access to electronic health information and improving patient data exchange.
Robotic Process Automation (RPA): The global market for RPA in healthcare is expanding as automated data capture systems streamline EMR processes, enhancing accuracy and efficiency without the need for extensive system redesigns.
Telehealth Integration: Integrating EHR systems with telehealth platforms enables remote patient care and smoother clinical workflows, empowering physicians to deliver high-quality care beyond traditional healthcare settings.
Why it matters: The evolution of EHRs and EMRs directly impacts the quality, efficiency, and accessibility of healthcare services. By staying abreast of these trends, healthcare organizations can harness technological advancements to improve patient outcomes, streamline operations, and enhance overall healthcare delivery.
Industry Pulse:?
Deloitte's analysis of US health tech investment trends sheds light on the growing attention towards women's health innovation amidst broader challenges in the healthcare investment landscape.
Investment Trends: Despite a 27% decrease in overall venture funding in health tech between 2022 and 2023, investments in women's health innovators experienced a 5% growth, indicating a shifting focus towards addressing women's health needs.
Underrepresentation in Funding: Women's health companies received only 2% of the total venture funding allocated to health innovators in 2023, highlighting a significant gap in investment compared to other sectors and underscoring the challenges faced by women-led startups.
Challenges for Women-Led Innovators: Biases in investment decisions and valuation disparities hinder the growth potential of female-led and women's health-focused companies, making it difficult for them to secure necessary funding to innovate and expand.
Opportunities and Innovation: Emerging technologies like AI are being increasingly integrated into women's health solutions, offering personalized care and addressing conditions such as pelvic floor dysfunction and menopause symptoms, signaling a potential for transformative innovation in the field.
Policy and Advocacy: Recent federal initiatives, such as the White House Initiative on Women’s Health Research, aim to drive interest and investment in women's health, reflecting a broader recognition of the importance of addressing gender disparities in healthcare through policy and advocacy efforts.
Why it matters: Investment in women's health is not only crucial for promoting equity but also has significant economic implications. By overcoming funding challenges and prioritizing women's health, investors and innovators can contribute to improving healthcare delivery and outcomes for women, ultimately leading to a healthier and more equitable future for all.
Hot Topics:
Understanding the priorities and challenges of healthcare professionals is necessary for software providers. 2024 Tech Trends in Healthcare highlights some factors influencing software purchasing decisions among medical organizations.
Staff Acceptance and Training: Over 42% of healthcare professionals cite staff acceptance and training as their primary challenge when investing in new software.?
Timeframe for Software Purchase: Most healthcare organizations take between 3 to 6 months to purchase new software, with 92% of buyers starting by shortlisting 3 to 5 vendors.?
Importance of IT Security: With the rise of telemedicine and remote patient monitoring, IT security has become a top priority for healthcare organizations.?
Sources of Information for Vendor Selection: Customer reviews, product trials, and consultations with industry experts are among the top sources of information for healthcare buyers when researching vendor shortlists.?
Why it matters: The landscape of healthcare technology has significant implications for patient care, operational efficiency, and data security. By understanding and addressing the priorities outlined in the article, software providers can play a pivotal role in driving innovation, improving healthcare outcomes, and ensuring the integrity of sensitive medical data.
Data Dive:?
The 2024 Outlook for Private Equity in US Health Care reveals key trends influencing investment strategies across various healthcare sectors.
Market Recovery: Despite lower deal volumes in 2023, the healthcare market is showing signs of stabilization, with optimism for increased transaction activity driven by strong fundamentals and evolving valuation expectations.
Asset Availability: Operational enhancements by corporate and private equity owners, along with the need to offload assets and return capital, are expected to bring more high-quality assets to market, potentially increasing transaction volumes.
Buyer Outlook: While buyer confidence remains mixed for 2024, long-term optimism prevails, supported by the record-high dry powder held by private equity investors and potential macroeconomic improvements.
Key Market Trends: Several challenges persist, including labor shortages, geopolitical uncertainties, interest rates, and inflation concerns, along with evolving regulatory landscapes and margin pressures.?
Segment-specific Impacts: Providers, payers, biopharma, medtech, life science tools, and health care IT sectors face unique challenges and opportunities influenced by labor dynamics, regulatory changes, technological advancements, and shifting care models.
Why it matters: Understanding the 2024 outlook for private equity in US healthcare is crucial for investors, industry stakeholders, and policymakers. It provides insights into market dynamics, investment opportunities, and challenges, guiding strategic decision-making and risk management efforts in the rapidly evolving healthcare landscape.
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That's all for this edition!?
The Topflight Team