Macrotrends in healthcare technologies due to COVID-19

In this series of blog posts, we aim to highlight some of the potential industry trends as a result of COVID-19. The blog posts are meant as a starting point for a discussion. Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below.

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Protecting the health of our population is the number one reason why SARS-CoV-2 has had such a big impact on our daily life the past months. Because health is such an integral part of our lives, and especially in the situation we are currently in, it’s interesting to discuss how the virus will impact the current health system and the future of health. 

We already see improvements in the health system as we know it today. Many practitioners are offering teleconsulting to their patients. Such a service has already been thought of and tried out before, but we didn’t truly believe that most people would skip their in-person visit to their doctor before the current situation made it indispensable. Despite the decrease in investments in 2020 due to COVID-19, we see a 3X increase in VC funding for telemedicine start-ups in Q1 2020 compared to Q1 2019 [1]. Clearly telemedicine is on the rise.

Mental health is another topic being discussed. A study on recovered hospitalised COVID-19 patients in China found that 92 % of the patients had significant posttraumatic stress symptoms [2]. A potential increase in mental health related disorders in the rest of the population, as a result of a society in lockdown, has also drawn attention lately. Will this lead to an increased offer in (online) mental health treatment?

Finally, one can discuss how COVID-19 will accelerate the already growing focus on preventive care. Due to COVID-19, more people have seen the value of strengthening their immune system. We will probably see an increased focus on nutrition, sleep, and exercise, and wearables and devices that track your vitals will most likely grow in popularity. The bigger question is: To what extent will governments and individuals be willing to (securely) share health data to provide better predictions of each individual’s health? When overcoming this barrier, the future of personalised preventive healthcare may finally be within reach. 

How do you see COVID-19 impact health systems and healthcare technology? Where is the future of health technology headed?