The Digital Health investment boom has waned. 2022 Digital Health funding of $15.3B was down nearly 50% from its stratospheric highs of $29.1B in 2021. This year, a more cautious funding environment persists as investors respond to wider economic conditions and uncertainties.
Fund flow only reflects a part of the Digital Health paradigm. At the 2023 VIVE conference, Digital Health was center stage–joined by its friends AI, ChatGPT and Health Equity. The spotlight wasn’t on splashy digital health investments, rather vendors and the audience had a clear focus on articulating and demonstrating product value-add and sustainability.
If there was a theme around Digital Health at VIVE, it was that the market is maturing–no longer the precocious “wild child” of Health IT, rather it’s hit the teen years and is yearning to understand where and how it fits into the bigger picture.
Additionally, Digital Health at VIVE 2023 wasn’t about “the app” or the platform, rather it reflected patient and provider-centric attention–from usability and seamless workflow to broadening the aperture to reflect how digital tools have the potential to radically drive health equity.
At a macro level, Digital Health represents the third wave of Health IT. Fueled by Meaningful Use, contemporary EHRs were the first wave, the basis of interoperability is the second wave. Today’s wave of Digital Health builds from that foundation. Like ocean waves these waves are not mutually exclusive–they combine and converge, amplifying their collective impact. As such, Digital Health operates as a force multiplier in a field already undergoing rapid transformation. Many vendors at VIVE 2023 recognize and represent this–seeking to distinguish their product on utility and ingenuity, rather than relying on a funding frenzy. Read how we are helping healthcare organizations turn the corner with our IT Advisory services.
