Digital Health: Insights Into the Key Transformative Trends & Evolving Market Dynamics

Over the past few years, the digital health market has registered immense growth owing to technological advancements and rising demand from the consumer side for better health outcomes. As per the latest assessment by DelveInsight, owing to several favorable factors, the global digital health market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 18.25% during the forecast period (2022 to 2027). The digital health market is anticipated to reach USD 486.55 billion by 2027. The use of information technology and communications to manage health and wellness is considered to be digital health. To deliver a better healthcare outcome, digital health encompasses a wide range of tools and services, such as mobile health (mHealth), health information technology (IT), wearable devices, telehealth, telemedicine, and personalized medicine, among others. Globally, several major MedTech and HealthTech companies are actively working in the market to deliver various innovative digital health solutions and products. 

In the past two-three years, the COVID-19 pandemic has also accelerated the digital transformation of healthcare service delivery. As per the data by the OECD, in 2019, before the pandemic, remote consultations via phone or video accounted for fewer than 10% of all consultations, but by mid-2020, almost one in three adults had used a remote consultation, a proportion that went up to almost one in two by early 2021. The increasing demand for digital health services, rise in internet use, growing awareness about teleconsultation, and others across the globe are predicted to increase the demand for digital health, thereby propelling the overall market growth in the forthcoming years. 

What is Digital health?

Digital Health technology has emerged as a key pillar in healthcare service delivery. Digital health integrates information technology and electronic communication with various healthcare processes to deliver better services and care to users. As per the World Health Organization, digital health is a broad umbrella term encompassing eHealth, as well as emerging areas, such as the use of advanced computing sciences in big data, genomics, and artificial intelligence, among others. The rapid growth in demand for new products like wearables, telemedicine, e-pharmacies, etc., has led to the significant growth of the digital health market. Moreover, integrating new-age technologies such as robotics, artificial intelligence, blockchain, and virtual reality with pharmaceuticals and healthcare services is also anticipated to expand the digital health market ecosystem. Similarly, several tremendous research and development activities are also going on with various new tools and technologies.

Top Digital Health Trends and Applications to Watch Out for in 2023

The scale-up and the growth in digital health tools and solutions over the past have revolutionized how people worldwide can achieve higher standards of healthcare services. Revolutionary advances in digital health are transforming health, medicine, and biomedical science, and it is leading to a healthier future. Similarly, the adoption and awareness of these tools and technologies are promoting the health and well-being of society. Here are some of the most common trends and applications expected to create a significant impact on the digital healthcare market – 

• Personal Health Management & Wellness

With each passing day, people are becoming increasingly aware of personal health management & wellness. Digital transformation of health systems ensures a great personal use, reuse, and control of all health information according to the preferences, discretion, and convenience of the user. The growing digital literacy or greater accessibility to tech devices and products makes it easier for users to monitor and track their healthcare stats regularly. Global major consumer brands such as Fitbit and Apple are leading in the personal health management & wellness space. 

• Diagnostics and Triage

Digital health tools and services have the potential to enhance the accuracy of the diagnosis and treatment of disease. With the advancement in technology, digital health tools are helping in making informed and better decisions. The advanced technologies utilize various cutting-edge computing platforms, software, and sensors for health care and related uses, which improve and provide new options for prevention, early diagnosis, and disease management.

Similarly, Point-of-care Diagnostics (“POCD”) is an emerging trend in the healthcare industry that encompasses a broad range of products and makes accurate diagnostics in a resource-limited setting. POCD are easily operatable by patients or healthcare practitioners and facilitates disease management, monitoring, and real-time diagnosis of multiple conditions. Significant advancements in biosensors, portable x-rays, handheld ultrasounds, and smartphone-based POCD are leading to better diagnostics. In the coming years, the growth and incorporation of artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms are expected to improve diagnostics further.

• Virtual Care & Telehealth

Virtual care utilizes remote technologies, such as phone calls, video conferencing, connected devices, and online chats, to make the interaction between patients and healthcare professionals much easier and smoother. Virtual care is a subset of Telehealth. Alternatively, telehealth is a major example of the digital health ecosystem that encompasses digital devices, algorithms, and apps. The COVID-19 pandemic has stimulated the virtual care & telehealth market growth in recent years. 

In the technology-type segment of the digital health market, the video consultation segment is expected to have a significant revenue share in the coming years as well. This is primarily owing to the rising demand and availability of video consultation in the market, rising launches and strategic investments and other activities by key players in the market, and advantages offered by the technology. The video consultation service saves valuable time for both doctors and patients. Also, besides doctor-to-patient communication, video consulting allows hospitals to create networks to support each other.

• Data & Analytics

The usage of digital health tools and technologies leads to the accumulation of large amounts of data across the healthcare system. The data in today’s time has very high importance in improving access, making informed healthcare policies, and implementing best practices in healthcare settings. For example, population-level health analytics can help in understanding prescription trends, tracking the treatment algorithms for chronic disease, and improving the delivery of healthcare services among the population. Similarly to hospitals, implementing digital health can improve workflow management, scale service delivery, and enhance capacity. In the long run, digital health solutions hold immense capacity for better clinical outcomes, financial growth, research, and research activities in the healthcare industry. 

Digital Health Market Dynamics

The Digital Health Market is anticipated to grow immensely in the coming years, owing to the rising demand for digital health tools and services to achieve remote and virtual patient care and monitoring across the globe. The increasing patient pool and the rising burden of the geriatric population prone to chronic and severe disorders, the growth in remote patient monitoring systems, teleconsulting apps, electronic medical records, E-prescribing systems, and others are also anticipated to drive digital health market growth. 

Moreover, the government worldwide has initiated several supportive initiatives and policies to stimulate the usage of Digital Health for remote patient care and monitoring services. Similarly, several venture capitalist investments have been registered in the digital health landscape, which has a positive effect on market growth. Despite several favorable factors, some of the key aspects, such as cybersecurity and privacy concerns, lack of skilled IT professionals in the healthcare industry, and others, are anticipated to hamper the digital health market growth.

Key Companies in the Digital Health Market Landscape and Regional Market Outlook

Globally, several major MedTech and HealthTech giants are actively working in the digital health market. Some of the major players operating in the digital health market include Siemens Healthcare Private Limited, Cisco Systems, Inc., Oracle Cerner, Altera Digital Health Inc., Telefonica, Epic, AT&T, AmerisourceBergen, Candela Corporation., GE Healthcare, Koninklijke Philips N.V., MCKESSON CORPORATION, AliveCor, Inc., Acurable, Amwell, OMRON Healthcare, Inc., Apple Inc., SoftServe, AirStrip Technologies, Inc, Epic Systems Corporation, and others. Owing to rising demand and high revenue and returns, several new players are anticipated to enter the digital health market landscape in the coming years. Similarly, the intense competition is expected to lead to a growth in the number of acquisitions, agreements or partnerships, product or service launches, and others.

As per the assessment, among all the regions, North America is expected to dominate the global digital health market in the coming years. Some of the key factors such as the rising demand for digital health among the physicians and patients in the region, the growing patient pool suffering from chronic diseases, the rising demand for remote patient monitoring and telemedicine, the presence of major MedTech and HealthTech players in the region, the rise in the adoption of the internet and compatible devices are anticipated to contribute to the growth of the digital health market in North America. Additionally, the increasing initiatives, including the implementation of the HIPAA Act and HITECH Act, to promote the use of e-health data have also been gaining prominence in the United States, which is also anticipated to boost user confidence toward digital health, which in turn will drive market growth. Furthermore, the growing healthcare IT expenditure to advance infrastructure, technological literacy, readiness to adopt advanced technological solutions, favorable government initiatives, the emergence of startups, lucrative funding options, growing smartphone penetration, and advancements in internet connectivity are further anticipated to drive digital health market growth in the North America region. 

Recent Developmental Activities in the Digital Health Market:

• In July 2022, AmerisourceBergen launched the digital therapeutics platform for facilitating access to innovative products. The DTx Connect is a fully integrated ordering, dispensing, and fulfillment platform which aims to facilitate patient access to physician-ordered digital therapeutics and diagnostics.
• In July 2022, Amazon planned to acquire One Medical Company to launch a digital health platform.
• In March 2022, GE Healthcare announced that it had dug into digital health with the platform launch of its new Edison platform for various healthcare organizations.
• In March 2022, Moroccan health tech startup, DabaDoc, and Orange, the French multinational telecommunications corporation, joined forces to launch DabaDoc Consult, a brand-new service allowing the African diaspora residing in Europe and the United States to instantly offer a video medical consultation to their relatives living in their country of origin.
• In September 2020, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced the launch of the Digital Health Center of Excellence within the Center for Devices and Radiological Health (CDRH). The launch of the Digital Health Center of Excellence is an important step in furthering the agency’s overarching dedication to the advancement of digital health technology, including mobile health devices, Software as a Medical Device (SaMD), wearables when used as a medical device, and technologies used to study medical products. 
• In August 2020, DocVita lived a unique service offering a virtual consultation that includes an in-person follow-up at no extra cost, if needed.

Digital Health Market – Future Landscape

Digital Health, over the past few years, has emerged as an excellent tool to address several underlying challenges in the healthcare system with unique solutions for both patients and service providers. Similarly, it has presented a lot of opportunities to the MedTech and HealthTech companies to grow their business and expand revenue share. Several startups are entering the segment and extensively focussing on delivering new products to grab the market share.

Additionally, the growing demand for remote patient monitoring and mobile health applications, increasing penetration of smartphones in the healthcare industries along with the increasing product or service launches & approvals, and the presence of key players in the market, among others, will create a requisite for digital health in the market. As per DelveInsight’s assessment, the global digital health market is expected to reach USD 486.55 billion by 2027. Further, the increasing patient pool suffering from chronic disease and the rising burden of the global geriatric population will increase the need for remote and virtual patient care, leading to the increased demand for digital health.