The biggest moments in health technology in 2022

In the year Looking back to 2022, I believe many people will begin to realize that health technology tools have been developed in the wrong order. When you look at the digital cameras of 20 years ago, they were cool, they were great, but they didn’t really work that well. In comparison, the iPhone has changed everything because it is connected to many devices. Many health tech devices today are similar to the digital cameras of decades ago: they look good and perform well, but they can’t do much more than they were designed to do.

Every day when I wake up, my ring tells me that I slept too much. Of course I slept a lot! Duh, thanks, now what? The point here is that these devices need to be connected to the wider network in order to make a significant impact in the modern world: they need to be connected to your doctor. People need to know what to do next, when to change their diet, when and how to change their exercise routine, help people with their mental health and ultimately change their lives. But these tools aren’t doing that. why? Because they are not my doctor. It’s like your Nest without your iPhone. It’s like connected TV without your iPhone. For meaningful impact, people need a foundation where everything connects in a coherent and informative way. Now, people don’t have that, and we have to create that digital doctor first so that all these things can be plugged into that system.

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Doug Hirsch

Co-CEO and Founder of GoodRx

Looking back to 2022, we think the market will adjust. The digital health investment bubble of 2021 has undoubtedly burst. After Q1, we painted. But when Q2 is concluded, the data is clearly there. A lot of people in the industry—too many, in my mind—are focused on how tight the market is going to be and how quickly. What I’m more interested in is how health technology will adapt and even reinvent itself in this new environment that demands more of us. This should be top of mind not only for early stage companies looking for funding, but also for large and public companies. Ultimately, we all need to bring our work back to the value we add to healthcare end users. This applies not only to consumers but also to healthcare providers. what do you want Is access to users sufficient? No, I would argue. They want quality health care – they deserve it. For providers, does the current suite of health technology solutions help or hinder burnout? Do our solutions make it easier or harder to provide care? If we focus on these questions rather than market dynamics, we will win. In the year Looking back at the end of 2022, I predict that the “winners” in our industry will be those that take into account the needs of multiple stakeholders, are willing to take on and solve complex problems like drug pricing, and how to do so. Mixed care models work, and their results and effects are proven.

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Neta Gottlieb, Ph.D.

Lead Clinical Research Scientist at ŌURA

The US Supreme Court’s recent decision to overturn Roe v. Wade is one of the most important moments for health technology this year.

Although women make up half of the world’s population, women and their reproductive health have historically been underutilized in medicine, science, and technology. Technology that advances reproductive health research is more important than ever. Women use apps and tools to accurately predict when their periods will arrive, find out when their fertile window is, and understand their family planning. However, the SCOTUS decision in Roe v. To overturn Wade would undermine women’s health and the progress of critical research in this area.

We’re starting to include people with cycles in research and technology, and we’re getting back to the ‘calendar method’ of tracking cycles with pen and paper, or using emoji or code words instead of ‘time’. .

Furthermore, when scientists are wary or hesitant to collect physiological data sensitive to the privacy and safety of research participants, we face the inevitable implications of hindering scientific progress, reducing innovation, and reducing inclusion and diversity.

That said, this decision requires health technology companies to be transparent in their dealings with user data, and increased transparency is not a bad thing. Consumers are raising their expectations from us, they want their privacy protected, and they want full visibility into how their information is collected and used.

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Greg Samios

President and CEO, Clinical Effectiveness at Wolters Kluwer Health

The pandemic has accelerated a long-overdue focus on innovation and solutions to combat critical challenges around health care delivery, including disparities between groups, high costs, and poor outcomes. This coupled with record investment in digital health has resulted in new market entrants. In the past two years alone, average valuations have tripled to $73 million and helped grow the digital health unicorn to a collection of 85 companies.

But there are signs that the digital health bubble is in trouble. Following a blockbuster year in 2021 for digital health, Q1 funding is down to $6.0 billion in 2022, down 18% from the previous quarter. In the year By the end of 2022, we are likely to see the market turn to value, as there is a growing awareness that change in established practices like healthcare is incredibly challenging due to heavy regulations and

New market entrants, including existing technology companies, recognize the challenge of understanding and competency required to produce high-quality, credible, evidence-based, and actionable clinical content is critical in this space. We see the market leading to more partnerships between large healthcare incumbents and digital health startups. A partnership with an established, reputable company provides solutions that quickly build trust and help avoid costly mistakes from learning hard lessons down the road.

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Anjali Jameson

SVP of a medical product

The pandemic is known to have caused an unprecedented burnout in the health care industry – according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, nearly 1.7 million people will quit their health care jobs in 2022 alone. The past two years have also seen a rapid increase in how top providers have embraced technology into their patient care practices. In the year A March 2022 survey found that 88% of clinicians agreed that ‘tech-awareness’ is becoming increasingly important in their day-to-day work, but at the same time, 69% also said that digital health technologies are a challenging burden, and most were negative about telehealth’s ability to empathize with patients. It affects. In other words, suppliers are feeling that technology is making their jobs harder, not easier.

In this sense, there is a common understanding that we need to be more intentional and thoughtful with our goals for health technology in healthcare organizations. As technology leaders, we must build new technology in collaboration with our clinical teams to ensure it meets their needs. This means that instead of building more technology for providers to use, we’re building technologies that better guide patients through more efficient care, automate workflows, and reduce tasks that providers and administrators hate to do. We must allow our healthcare providers to practice at the top of their licenses in a sustainable and fun environment or we will have no providers left to care for patients.

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Susan O’Malley

Head of Personal Healthcare Strategy at Roche / Genentech

In healthcare, we are already seeing how the integration of science, data, analytics and technology can improve research and development. enhancing our ability to deliver personalized diagnosis and treatment; Support the rapid delivery of medical interventions and the continued monitoring and care of patients.

In the year In 2022, I think this momentum will continue to build and accelerate seamless digital technologies into everyday patient care. At Roche, we are developing disease-specific algorithms to use wearable technologies to manage patients with difficult-to-monitor, progressive diseases. By understanding a patient’s health parameters day-to-day and over time, care can be tailored more precisely to each individual.

For example, Roche has developed integrated solutions such as smartphone-based apps that can collect accurate and real-time data using active and passive monitoring to track subtle changes between doctor visits through digital assessments. By 2022, we believe we will continue to accelerate these types of technologies, helping clinicians make more informed clinical conversations and healthcare provider decisions in ways that benefit and support them, while improving patient outcomes.

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Randy Kellogg

President and CEO of Omron Healthcare

This year’s contender for the biggest “moment” in health technology may not actually be a product launch, but rather an understanding between patients and physicians that could revolutionize the landscape of telemedicine and remote patient care.

In the past two years, the pandemic has forced telemedicine practices. Access to doctor’s offices was limited, and patients had to learn to use new technologies to communicate with their doctors remotely.

This year, telemedicine and remote control devices have moved from mandated to preferred. Patients who engage in the practice of telemedicine find that they can use connected medical devices at home to capture and send accurate information.

For example, A-fib and irregular heartbeats are often missed when checking blood pressure at the doctor’s office, and A-fib carries a five-fold increased risk of stroke. Now, with devices like the Omron Complete, the first blood-pressure monitor with a built-in EKG, patients can monitor their condition from home and send information to their doctor using our Connect app. We’ve heard stories of customers who have seen their A-fib at home, sent the reading to their doctor, and started treatment, which has significantly reduced their risk of stroke.

According to data from March 2022, more than half of medical practices currently use remote patient monitoring services, and half of those practices that have not yet used these technologies plan to within the next two years. This represents a major step forward in health technology and behavior change for patients and physicians.

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