Emerging Healthcare IT Market Trends to Follow in 2024
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Published: August 2024
Technology in healthcare plays an essential role in facilitating accurate treatment with real-time analysis. With advances in technology, healthcare professionals can diagnose diseases with higher precision, allowing them to tailor treatment plans to treat a broad range of diseases. The ideology behind implementing computer hardware, software, and IT-based applications is to enhance the efficiency of healthcare services and allow doctors to treat patients beyond conventional settings. Additionally, healthcare technologies play an essential role in improving patient outcomes and the cost-effectiveness of treatment. Given the significance of healthcare information technology, several researchers and industrial stakeholders are investing their time and resources on developing artificial intelligence-based projects, including robotics systems, digital therapeutics, remote patient monitoring tools and more. In this context, let's take an overview of future technologies that are reshaping the healthcare IT market.
What is Healthcare Information Technology?
It refers to health technology, specifically information technology, commonly known as health tech, applied to healthcare to improve treatment and ensure quality control during information exchange. Healthcare information technology is considered the future of medicinal care because it can predict data with seamless accuracy, manage diseases with improved outcomes, and ensure quality control. With healthcare technology, the healthcare sector can improve ongoing data management issues, long waiting times for patients to get treatment, high cost of treatment, and availability of healthcare services outside the hospitals. The ongoing innovations in the healthcare IT market indicate significant growth in the future, aiming to improve virtual care using telemedicine, big data analytics, and more predictive technologies.
What Are the Future Trends in the Healthcare IT Market?
In the healthcare IT market, the technological trends are driven by the advances in digital technologies and artificial intelligence that facilitate virtual care. Emerging technologies such as mobile health, the Internet of Things, and virtual conferencing applications are shaping the healthcare industry to meet treatment goals that currently need to be met due to conventional approaches. Some of the advanced technologies that show a promising future for the healthcare IT industry include:
- Telemedicine for Mental Health
- Remote Patient Monitoring
- Home Healthcare
- Artificial Intelligence in Clinical Trials
- Smart Implants
- Blockchain in Healthcare
- Big Data Analytics
1. Telemedicine for Mental Health
Real-time analysis remains the center of attraction to improve the mental health of patients suffering from a broad range of neurological disorders. The healthcare IT market players will emphasize bringing advancements in telemedicine applications that ensure easy access to quality care. Physicians can conduct counselling sessions or treatment using contemporary healthcare technologies such as video conferencing and communicate with patients using chat box function. Telehealth technology allows people with mental illnesses to obtain high-quality care at any time and from any location.
Several Telehealth Startups Have Emerged and are Raising Funds for Dealing with Mental Health Disorders
US based telehealth company Cartwheel, established in 2022, raised $ 20 million in series A funding in October 2023. They offer mental health services to students, school staff and their families of more than 50 schools across five US states.
Another US based telehealth startup, Vita Health raised $22.5 million in series A in January 2024. The company is working towards suicide prevention in youths and adults across the US.
2. Remote Patient Monitoring
Remote patient monitoring devices are at the forefront of the era of home healthcare, allowing patients and healthcare providers to manage diseases without visiting hospitals. The intersection of technology and healthcare has increased virtual healthcare, resulting in more online appointments, remote treatment, and real-time televisions. Physicians would be required to monitor vital signs and track patients' health problems. This may be easily accomplished with remote patient monitoring (RPM). RPM tools include internet-connected gadgets like health bracelets, blood pressure cuffs, oxygen monitors, IoT glucose meters, and IoT thermometers. These gadgets may capture real-time data that clinicians can access and evaluate online.
Increasing Adoption of Remote Patient Monitoring Tools is Driving Several Product Launch
In August 2024, US based Carematrix launched a remote patient monitoring weighing scale, which can take readings and share with healthcare professionals to allow regular monitoring in chronic conditions such as heart diseases, diabetes and obesity.
GE Healthcare, an active player in remote patient monitoring market, announced the launch of an updated version of its remote patient scanning tool, Digital Expert Access.
3. Home Healthcare
Wearable technologies and wellness applications are becoming increasingly popular and driving the home healthcare trend in 2024. A few professional (and many semi-professional) healthcare and wellness mobile applications are available on distinctive platforms. Some of these Smartphone applications may sync with wearables, such as fitness trackers or pulsometers, to use data obtained from sensors on the body to report or analyze health issues, such as pulse, blood pressure, temperature, and other metrics.
Launch of Several Initiatives Such as Hospital-at-Home and Home Nursing Care is Driven by Rising Demand
In order to make remote monitoring more effortless and patient centric, several industrial leaders have taken initiatives such as hospital-at-home and home nursing care services that help in disease diagnosing and management within home settings. For instance, Vivid Health launched multispecialty care management platform in 2023 which is currently utilized at North California WakeMed (Accountable Care Organization). Vivid is focusing on implementing at-home care solutions within these organizations to help clinical staff in managing patient records remotely. Start Health Insurance (India’s biggest retail health insurance company) has launched home health care services in more than 50 cities across India. The aim of launching home health care services is to offer customer-centric healthcare solutions directly at the doorsteps of customers for instant settlement. Access our analysis on the challenges and market drivers of home healthcare market.
4. Artificial Intelligence in Clinical Trials
AI in clinical trials has already made a significant way in the past few years. Artificial intelligence tools including digital twin technology, big data analytics and AI-cloud services help in the collection of data within real-time that aid in drug optimization faster than even before. Moreover, integration of AI technology in clinical trials has reduced chances of human errors which further enhance the approval rate, thereby enabling faster drug approval and commercialization.
A Number of Clinical Research Organizations are Leveraging the Potential of AI
It is worth noting here that a number of clinical research organizations has already adopted AI for conducting clinical trials of drugs. For instance, AstraZeneca has collaborated with AI providers such as Qure.ai, Clinthink and Medsol AI Solutions to leverage AI and data analytics across its research and development projects. The current focus of partnerships for AI is to apply machine learning for the identification and development of novel therapeutic drugs for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and chronic renal disease. Read about Artificial Intelligence Companies applying AI to clinical trials.
5. Smart Implants
The healthcare IT market focuses on integrating technologies to develop smart implants and regenerative medicines. For instance, 3D printing of biocompatible implants will become more reliable, responsive, and accessible for a wide spectrum of patients. Driven by the rising focus on introducing technologies, it is anticipated that the key players in the healthcare market will focus on improving 3D bioprinting technology to reduce the production and costs of bionic prostheses and implants. Moreover, advanced-generation implants such as fully functional mechanical limbs, lightweight prosthetic designs, and 3D printable life-saving implants for neurological patients will be developed in the future.
Companies Working on the Evolution of Bioprinting from 3D to 4D
In June 2024, Nebraska-Based ceramic bioprinting specialist, TETHON in collaboration with Carima launched Bison Bio DLP 3D Printer (a desktop sized system) for research and development applications in medical industry.
In June 2024, Stratasys announced the launch of the latest J5 Digital Anatomy 3D Printer (RAPID+TCT2024) for the medical industry. This new system has been designed to meet with growing demand for accurate and affordable anatomical models. Know about leading 4D bioprinting companies.
6. Blockchain in Healthcare
Blockchain technology in the healthcare industry has truly transformed the electronic record keeping criteria, making it more manageable and effortless without paperwork. This innovative technology has increased privacy, security and interoperability within healthcare ecosystem. One of the potential benefits of implementing blockchain technology in healthcare is it helps to maintain transparency within supply chain. Blockchain based system helps to track therapeutic products from manufacturing units to destination. Moreover, the blockchain enabled electronic medical record system also helps to maintain patient-centric records.
Blockchain Startups Looking to Disrupt the Healthcare Market
Owing to the growing adoption of blockchain technology in healthcare, several blockchain startups are looking to make their way in the healthcare market. Medicalchain is a startup company in the blockchain market who is currently working with healthcare providers for the implementation of blockchain based EMRs so patients have control on how their data will be accessed by healthcare providers.
In July 2023, Chronicled (a startup based blockchain company) successfully launched MediLedger (Blockchain Enabled Product Verification Solution) that is intended to streamline the supply chain process with efficiency and maintain safety. For more insight, access our article on top companies using blockchain technology for healthcare.
7. Big Data Analytics
In the healthcare industry, patient data provides invaluable insight into disease, progression and effect of treatment on patients. As patient data becomes more crucial, the healthcare industry shifted to big data analytics that offer predictive insight about patient disease and overall health outcomes before / after treatment. Moreover, big data analytics can also help healthcare professionals in enhancing capacity planning, resource allocation and staffing levels.
Big IT Players Such as Google and Microsoft are Driving Innovation in this Market
Given the growing amount of data being generated in the healthcare industry, various well-established players such as Google and Microsoft are accelerating their research to develop innovative solutions to manage the data analysis. For instance, in October 2023, Microsoft introduced AI and big data analytic solutions to assist healthcare organizations in improving patient as well as clinician experience. Read about more big data analytic companies in the healthcare industry.
Healthcare IT Market: Paving into the Promising Future
In conclusion, the prediction about the future of healthcare IT looks promising, and the healthcare industry continues to witness advancements in software technologies. With remote patient monitoring, virtual care, and telemedicine, healthcare IT market players will drive their attention toward precision medicine to ensure higher patient diagnostics and treatment accuracy. Cutting-edge information technologies are required to effectively analyze patient data in real-time and generate accurate diagnosis reports to plan. More technologies, devices, and robotic surgical instruments will be developed that facilitate surgeries and treatment with a minimally invasive approach and maximum accuracy.