How Digital Health Empower Changes for Investors

The adoption of digital technology has provided healthcare providers with opportunities for effective patient outreach. The radical shift in consumer behavior towards digital channels has further accelerated its adoption and reshaped the new normal with unprecedented virtual activities in the sector. This has prioritized remote monitoring of patients and deployment of contactless technologies. As a consequence, the delivery of healthcare is bound to experience a significant change.

The technological innovation in the present healthcare industry is blurring traditional boundaries bringing large-scale disruption worldwide. The increased adoption of digital health by consumers and healthcare providers is the major growth driver of the new-age healthcare industry.

Considering the behavioral change in stakeholders, the health tech industry is expected to touch $5 billion by 2023 with a CAGR of 39 percent.

The new opportunities provided by the change in the sector have created an opening for innovators to come up with disruptive solutions for a sustained healthcare future. Venture capitalists, private equity investors, and other investment firms are increasingly investing in the areas that could provide proactive care delivery with a precise focus on Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and the Internet of Things. On the other hand, health tech startups and innovators are putting extensive resources into developing differentiated solutions leveraging data for care enablement.

Health tech funding keeping up the pace

The two consecutive waves of coronavirus in the country impacted the growth of startups. However, the scenario with healthcare technology is on the flip side with a total of $15.3 billion raised by health tech startups in 2020, up from $10.6 billion in 2019, according to a recent Silicon Valley Bank report.  Additionally, alternative care companies raised a total of $5.9 billion including primary care, mental health, and platform care deals. The increase in funding is largely driven by the surge in the demand for digital health during the pandemic era.  Further, following the steep surge in digital health services, public offerings (IPOs) and large-ticket mergers and acquisitions will likely continue gaining momentum at a rapid pace.

Remote monitoring

India, being a highly populated and diverse country, has faced several challenges in equalizing healthcare accessibility. However, the onset of the COVID pandemic spurred the adoption of telehealth and remote monitoring of patients, thereby revolutionizing the industry. The facilitation of healthcare or related services via digital channels has enabled equal healthcare access to everyone. The telehealth systems played a crucial role in tough times by distributing healthcare services equally among patients across cities. This provided relief to the overburdened healthcare infrastructure of the country to some extent.

Considering the pace at which telehealth revolutionized the sector, the Indian Government also issued the Telemedicine Practice Guidelines that allow healthcare practitioners to use digital communication channels to provide healthcare services. This creates a big room for startups to come up with related solutions and attracts investors. Furthermore, with the radical shift from traditional doctor visits to remote monitoring, the telemedicine market is expected to rise to $ 5 Bn by 2025 at a CAGR of 31 percent, as per the EY-IPA study.

Contactless technologies

The adoption of contactless technologies has soared, propelling the growth of health tech infrastructure. Healthcare institutions, hospitals, and clinics are turning to technological solutions to create contactless infrastructure for medical staff and patients. Technological innovations – mainly IoT, automated robots, AI, and ML not only mitigate the need for physical contact but also improves organizational efficiency and performance. Additionally, the capability of these technologies in gathering and analyzing complex patient data also helps doctors in solving a variety of challenges to provide improved and proactive care.

The virtual healthcare infrastructure improves organizational performance and promotes efficiency in the delivery of healthcare. The startups working on related tools and solutions attract lucrative investments. This also enables them to be forerunners in finding solutions to complex challenges and gaps existing in the traditional healthcare industry.

The digital health ecosystem is growing at a "never before" rate today with a large number of innovators coming forward to join the ecosystem backed by equally able marquee investors.