The Future of Healthcare? It’s Digital.

Healthcare is an industry that is almost recession-proof. Throughout the Covid pandemic, healthcare has shown strong resiliency and growth, with an industry value of over $10 trillion by 2022.

With such strong impetus, industry players are challenged to keep up with demand, as well as anticipate needs from an aging population. In this blog post by Jabil Healthcare, they review the accomplishments of the industry—from value-based healthcare, shifting the focus from treatment to early prevention, as well as the shift to digital technology, allowing healthcare providers to engage directly with their patients using a variety of sensing technologies and face to face for diagnostics and treatment.

The Digital Health industry, according to Jabil, is ‘booming’ and will be worth over $500 billion by 2025. With this explosive growth comes a proliferation of product offerings. The challenge for this industry? The capability of being fully able to deliver on their digital health plans and offerings. Jabil believes there’s much opportunity for improvement, and significant potential for momentum to those companies executing on well-defined digital strategies.

6 industry challenges

Jabil points out six digital health industry challenges, as identified by surveys they conducted in 2018 and 2020:

1. Sluggish production and launch cycles. Driven by constant innovation, 44% of participants reported development and launch cycles are less than 18 months. Only 29% reported the same in 2018. Incorporating agility into the R&D phases, using modular designs and navigating supply chain issues can all improve cycle times.
2. Hesitation to take risks. Understandably, the healthcare industry is risk-averse. How to facilitate innovation? Jabil suggests partnering. Enlisting outside expertise leverages partner’s strengths, viewpoints and vision.
3. Potential of Artificial Intelligence. Jabil believes AI is ‘one of the most potent accelerators of innovation and emergent capability in healthcare.’ Three-quarters of digital healthcare solution providers say they are seriously considering or already leveraging technology for delivering personalized medicine and precision healthcare solutions.
4. Increasing value in contract manufacturing capabilities. Contract Manufacturers (CMs) are thought to lead innovation, based on their strong foundation of certification and production. And leveraging new technologies like Additive Manufacturing.
5. Changing regulatory environments are easier to navigate. In the US, the FDA has become more accommodating in supporting new technology in healthcare. Agencies worldwide are becoming more risk-tolerant in their approach to regulating new products, while maintaining patient safety.
6. Data security and privacy concerns. Aspects such as device and data interoperability, and controlled access to health data by consumers, all reinforce the need for standards for sharing and patient privacy protections.

This has been a short summary of Jabil’s blog post, and has been reprinted with their permission. To access the complete post, The Future of Healthcare? It’s Digital please click here.