🏥 Intro
Over the last 20 years, the medical, healthcare, and MedTech industries have experienced consistent revenue growth and major tech breakthroughs which have led to more companies entering the market to capture market share from incumbents.
With a looming staffing crisis, and a weakened economy, it’s likely we will see a massive amount of new innovations in healthcare over the next few years in response to the current market conditions.
☑️ Post objectives: In this post, we will outline 8 innovations and trends for the healthcare industry/ sector, including some of the key trends that will shape the healthcare and medical industries in the years to come. Our first order of business will be to review a section covering market research, followed by a breakdown of the 8 healthcare industry trends and innovations. Let’s get started!
🧩 Table Of Contents
💹 Healthcare Industry Market Research
Despite the pandemic, the healthcare industry continues to grow. According to a report by Statista, the healthcare industry in the United States reached a staggering $4.4 trillion in 2022, with an impressive 6.5% growth rate measured as CAGR. This is projected to increase to $5.5 trillion by 2023. Furthermore, the global healthcare market size is expected to reach $10.06 trillion USD by 2026, and $12 trillion USD by 2040
Approximately 19.7% of GDP was spent on healthcare in the U.S. in 2020, up from just over 8% 40 years earlier. Total expenditures are expected to reach $6.2 trillion by 2028, and $4.3 trillion by 2023.
It is possible to attribute the growth of healthcare to a number of factors, including the increase in private insurance coverage, investments in MrNA and other biomedical innovations, an aging population that requires more preventative and emergency care, and the continuous development of new medical technologies utilizing deep tech and robotics. Additionally, the healthcare industry is being driven by rising treatment costs, an increase in preventive care, and the growing demand for healthcare services worldwide.
💻 8 Healthcare Industry Business Trends and Innovations
1. Telemedicine and virtual consultations 🌐
A growing trend in healthcare has been telemedicine and virtual consultations, where healthcare professionals offer online consultations and remote patient monitoring - The use of advanced communication technologies enables healthcare professionals to treat patients remotely, or even asynchronously.
Dermatologists can, for instance, examine, diagnose, and treat skin conditions remotely, without the need for an in-person visit, which is a major benefit to both patients and doctors – During the pandemic, doctors and medical professionals shifted the way they interact with their patients, and mental health has also seen a significant increase in teletherapy as a direct result of the pandemic. Using video-based therapy solutions and other proprietary tools, therapists, psychotherapists, and other clinicians can remotely see their patients.
2. Wearables and IoT for remote patient monitoring ⌚
As smart medical devices become more popular, healthcare professionals can collect vital patient data remotely, improving the quality and efficacy of care - With these sophisticated sensors, healthcare providers can track, record, and transmit patient data in real time, enabling continuous monitoring and early detection of potential health issues.
Smartwatches, for instance, can measure a person’s heart rate, activity, and sleep quality and send the data to their physician. Apple with its flagship Apple Watch is one company operating in this space. Apple has been progressively increasing its product/ service offering within the health-tech space, and releasing innovations for the Apple watch such as continuous monitoring of biometrics such as heart rate, which can also be used to check the user’s blood pressure, and o2.
In 2015, Google acquired Fitbit for $2.1 billion, as another company operating within the wearable space, and is used to track physical activity, sleep, as well as other core metrics and biometrics. Another example is Whoop and the Oura Ring , which are primarily used by athletes to optimize their performance and recovery, among other core metrics.
3. Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) for diagnostics 🩻
Healthcare professionals are adopting AI-driven technologies to improve diagnostic accuracy, predict patient outcomes, and develop personalized treatment plans, per patient. In recent months, artificial intelligence has been the most talked-about innovation in the tech world, and it will no doubt continue to play a major role in the future of healthcare.
4. The shift towards value-based care 🚑
As a result of the pandemic, our healthcare systems in the US have become somewhat broken, or it could be argued that the pandemic brought some of the core issues to the forefront, making them impossible to ignore. In order to prevent the spread of the virus, patients were either turned away from the hospital or forced to stay at home. According to estimates, the health sector lost $3 trillion in revenue as a result of the pandemic, and 1 in 4 healthcare workers were furloughed.
The pandemic is one of the cases of the push toward value-based care, or you could say that the pandemic forced the adoption of such a model. In healthcare, value-based care is a way of improving patient outcomes and reducing costs across all departments, including hospitals and other medical facilities. It involves paying providers for quality rather than quantity of services, which is one of the major pain points in terms of quality of care for patients throughout the country. As a result of this model, medical professionals, and doctors are encouraged to focus on improving patient outcomes and developing more efficient and effective treatment plans, which is often opposed to a more traditional model based on our capitalist society as a whole.
5. Cybersecurity in a digital health landscape 🛡
Healthcare professionals have been forced to prioritize securing their infrastructure as a result of the proliferation of electronic health records and internet-connected devices, as well as the threat of data breaches and exploits posed by the sensitive nature of healthcare data.
6. mRNA Vaccines 🦠
The rapid development of the COVID-19 vaccines introduced many people, myself included, to the new methods medical professionals/scientists are using to create, develop, and test vaccines using mRNA. The use of mRNA vaccines is a relatively new concept in healthcare, approved in the US and elsewhere. COVID-19 vaccines contain genetic code for the spike protein of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes the disease.
7. CRISPR Gene Editing Technology 🧬
CRISPR gene editing technology is an advanced method of editing DNA sequences to treat genetic disorders and prevent hereditary diseases. Several genetic diseases and conditions, including Huntington’s disease and sickle cell disease, can be treated and even cured with gene editing and have also been used to create an animal model to treat Alzheimer’s disease.
CRISPR and gene editing are among the most impactful advancements in medical sciences. The potential effects of these medical innovations on society in perpetuity are immense and almost immeasurable, and research shows that the use of CRISPR could lead to treatments for previously incurable genetic disorders as previously mentioned. Studies have demonstrated how CRISPR can successfully edit DNA in vivo, which could pave the way for more effective medical treatments in the future.
8. 3D Bioprinting 🫀
In 3D bioprinting, cells are patterned in a confined space using 3D printing-like techniques, enabling researchers to study the effects of drugs and treatments on human tissue. Researchers are using 3D bioprinting to study cancer treatments and brain tumors, as well as to develop tissues for medical implants.
🔬 Final Thoughts
The healthcare industry is continuing to face a talent shortage, and the pandemic has only exacerbated this issue. However, it is important to recognize that the pain points that healthcare is currently facing represent some of the greatest opportunities for the industry moving forward. Automation, AI, machine learning, and robotics are emerging technologies that have the potential to help address staffing shortages as well as provide assistance in areas such as vaccine development, gene therapy, surgery, preventive care, therapy, and general care, as well as in just about every other healthcare or medical department we can imagine.
The inevitable transition to AI, ML, and robotics reaffirms a point I have made in my previous research, pointing out the fact that society is moving towards a post-industrial economy; a service-based society.
Some of the additional areas of opportunity within healthcare that we have not reviewed include, Remote patient monitoring (RPM) which is expected to increase by 20% in 2023, and by 26% by 2025. Additionally, home diagnostic tests, as well as Medicare and Medicare Advantage (MA), will continue to expand which has increased by $265 billion USD.
In this post, we first reviewed market research, followed by each of the 8 business trends and innovations for the healthcare industry in 2023.
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