Frost & Sullivan says the emergence of the anytime-anywhere care concept with the COVID-19 outbreak has transformed the healthcare sector worldwide, resulting in a surge in demand for digital health applications—especially telehealth and remote patient monitoring.
Vendors' need to redefine their visions and strategies to align with the new normal will be a key factor that will define the global healthcare market in the coming years. In an optimistic scenario, the total healthcare market—pharmaceuticals and biotechnology, in-vitro diagnostics, advanced medical technologies, medical imaging and informatics, and digital health—is estimated to hit over $2.6 trillion by 2025, growing at a compound annual growth rate of 6.3%.
"The new vision for healthcare in 2021 will focus on using digital means to ensure access, quality, and affordability, in addition to strategies designed to overcome the losses sustained in 2020. At the same time, it is important to ensure healthcare remains precise, preventive, and outcome-based in the promotion of social and financial inclusion," said Chandni Mathur, healthcare & life sciences senior industry analyst at Frost & Sullivan.
Frost predicts that between 2021 and 2023, innovative business models are expected to emerge. These will be targeted at developing innovative return on investment (ROI) streams to regain lost revenues while ensuring patient centricity.
Mathur added: "With interoperability and data security being high-stake issues, the healthcare sector will experience a transformation in business, novel models of delivery, and the emergence of new businesses in the next five years. Additionally, non-traditional healthcare players, such as Amazon, Apple, and Microsoft, will play a key role in this transformation with high penetration in the virtual care space."
As patients grow accustomed to digital healthcare, service providers will focus on building efficiencies and managing scalability issues for the following growth opportunities:
- Real-world, data-supported approaches to increase the adoption of immuno-oncology (I-O) agents into the standard of care.
- Digital point-of-care testing (POCT) platforms for infectious disease testing.
- Artificial intelligence in imaging and virtual platforms in high-acuity care to optimize workflow and improve clinical outcomes.
- Expansion of telehealth services toward virtual care across the care continuum.
