The article from Rock Health, titled “Digital health at the turn of 2024: Tracking developments along the innovation maturity curve,” provides an analysis of the major developments in digital health as we approach the end of 2023. The article uses data to plot these developments along an innovation maturity curve, helping strategy and innovation leaders identify opportunities and competitive pressures.
Key Developments Analyzed:
- Food as Medicine: This area has seen growing research activity, policy shifts, expanding reimbursements, and innovation, with digital nutritional recommendations and interventions expanding beyond niche use cases. The NIH has earmarked an estimated $1.9B annually for nutritional research efforts.
- Digital Obesity Care: The focus has been on weight management-oriented support services, such as remote monitoring and lifestyle coaching. PubMed mentions of digitally-enabled obesity care grew by nearly 85% from 2020 to 2022, indicating a growing body of evidence and practical care models.
- Caregiver Solutions: This segment, focusing on solutions for caregivers of aging adults, parents, and caregivers of people with illness or disability, has seen increasing federal and state-level commitments and over 400 publications in 2023.
- AI in Healthcare: AI-enabled solutions in healthcare, supporting patient triage, scheduling, medical scribing, and drug discovery, have seen nearly $2.8B in funding across 101 deals in 2023. The FDA is expected to continue increasing approvals for AI/ML technologies.
- Value-Based Care Enablement: Companies specializing in enabling providers and payers to adopt risk-based business models have seen significant growth. Tech-enabled kidney care-focused companies and primary care capitation models have been prominent in 2023.
- Retailers as Providers: Big box retailers have been expanding into healthcare, with new entrants like GNC and Costco joining and existing players like Walgreens, Amazon, and CVS maturing their offerings.
- Data Interoperability: A major focus in digital health, with more than $630M in funding from Q1 to Q3 2023, is deploying solutions to help stakeholders comply with and take advantage of data interoperability.
The article suggests that 2024 will be a year of recalibration and adjustment in digital health, with continued progress along the innovation maturity curve. It poses questions for leaders in the field regarding capabilities, partnerships, and positioning for growth in challenging market conditions. The article highlights the importance of staying informed and engaged with the latest developments in digital health.