Chances are you have heard that healthcare costs are rising with the day, and there’s little that could stop that trend but  digitization of the entire industry.

Digital health is the convergence of digital and genomic technologies with health, healthcare, living, and society to enhance the efficiency of healthcare delivery and make medicines more personalized and precise. The discipline involves the use of information and communication technologies to help address the health problems and challenges faced by patients, as well as the general public who wants to stay healthy.

Healthcare is one of the last major industries awaiting to be digitized, and now it is to take that “leap,” with investors putting billions to make that happen. And this includes both established players and the growing number of startups.

There are multiple factors behind this trend, each of which could be a reason for you (all of us, really) to join this revolution. Here are what are arguable the top 5 reasons:

1. Aging Population

Aging comes with its own set of problems, with seniors being among the most avid “users” of hospital beds. As we have seen in many places across the world, when the pandemic strikes – there are not enough beds to hospitalize all patients that would require care. The nightmare scenario includes a big part of baby boomers  — aka  the biggest generation ever  —  ending up in hospitals.

So for one reason or another, technology could kick in to keep seniors as healthy and as away from hospitals as possible. They could be provided with a wearable or some other non-intrusive device that would monitor their health throughout the day.

Another factor to consider is that most people want to live retirement years in their own homes, with services such as remote monitoring making this not only possible on a wide scale, but also cost-effective for payers.

2. Doctor Shortage

It is not just that the biggest generation ever is retiring, it is also that hospitals and health systems are facing doctor shortages.

According to the Association of American Medical Colleges, the United States will suffer a shortage of up to 104,900 doctors by 2030, and the situation is similar in other parts of the world. These gaps can lead to delays in care for patients, or worse, prevent them from getting care at all.

Doctor shortages are spread out, so when there’s a lack of doctors in one area, a licensed physician from the other area could kick in to provide counseling and other services that are delivered via a video call on a computer or some mobile device.

Telehealth services could help keep costs at bay while at the same time being able to provide consultations and even e-prescriptions to remote patients.

3. Technology is Ready

Today, there is enough bandwidth and storage to put all medical images in the cloud and make them accessible to both doctors and patients on demand. This is still not available in most places, but we are steadily approaching the moment when our health data, including medical images, will be easily available to all doctors that are treating us (when we provide them with access).

In the meantime, patients with serious problems keep carrying CDs and papers with them, which is an everything but efficient method for “dealing” with health data.

When it comes to security, it got much better  —  and more importantly  —  more seamless to implement. Today, most smartphones include a fingerprint reader that could be used for unlocking personal health records and making these available to physicians and/or family members.

Technology-wise, the stars have aligned to enable the digitization of healthcare.

4. The Industry Is Booming

Digital health is already a “thing,” with established players enhancing their offerings to include mobile technologies and sensor data to the mix, while startups are raising record amounts of investment capital.

In 2019, venture capital (VC) firms contributed $7.4 billion to these companies, according to data from Rock Health, a full-service seed fund that supports digital health startups. What’s more, that figure is only expected to grow from there with 2020 data suggesting startups have managed to attract $9.4 billion from investors during the first three quarters of the year.

Speaking of investors, they are a different bunch that includes VC arms of big corporations like Google, GE and Qualcomm; dedicated VC firms such as Khosla Ventures and Venrock; as well as IT giants and major health systems.

Also for what it matters, this is not a U.S. thing only  –  many firms are investing all around the globe where digitization of healthcare is taking place, as well.

5. You’re Probably Already Using It

If you have a smartphone ,  you are probably already using some kind of a digital health tool. Whether it’s for counting steps, taking notes of your lunches and dinners, or keeping up with your sleeping habits  — there could be an app on your phone.

What’s more, if you have a wearable device like an activity tracker or a smartwatch, you are gathering a vast number of data  —  including in some cases of your heartbeats  —  that are stored in your health profile. On the iPhone, there’s Apple’s HealthKit and on Android devices – we have Google Fit and/or Samsung Health.

These platforms make sure all your activities count  —  including steps, calories, distance, sleep data and more  —  to deliver a better image of your overall well-being.

How to Get Started in Digital Health?

DHbriefs is there to help. It stands for “Digital Health Briefs,” offering reports that cover the digital health market. These reports provide industry intelligence, the outlook of key players, their products and services, and more  –  making sure YOU get to save time and money, while potentially opening new opportunities for growth.
If you want to find your place in the fast-growing digital health market — which hasn’t stopped growing during the COVID-19 pandemic, quite the contrary — check out DHbriefs’ offering. It will provide you with the knowledge to get a better-paying job, join a promising startup, start your own business – or just to expand your horizons. Whatever your goal is, you’ll definitely get the knowledge and information to pursue it. Just hurry up, cause right now we have a limited-time offer for DHbriefs’ report which you don’t want to miss. Check it out.