2020 was a year that had a profound effect on how we think about healthcare. COVID-19 revealed how vulnerable our healthcare system is, but it is also proving to be the tipping point for sweeping changes. And as the healthcare market evolves, investors will look for opportunities.
Watch the video here.
2020 was a year that made us rethink everything—how we live, how we communicate, how we work. And last year had an even more profound effect on how we think about healthcare.
COVID-19 revealed how vulnerable our healthcare system is and its need for structural and technological transformation.
Our healthcare system is among the last of the big industries to embrace digital technologies. While other sectors have mostly digitalized their processes, progress in healthcare has been very slow. In fact, the fax machine would no longer exist if it were not for our healthcare system.
2020 is proving to be the tipping point that sweeping changes are now possible. Leaps in adoption of virtual care, telemedicine, and AI solutions are visible but other areas are progressing as well.
We now all see the enormous value of digitalizing healthcare for all stakeholders, from individual patients to doctors in hospitals to the entire society.
Over the next decade, healthcare will be centered to prevent disease rather than solely focusing on treating disease. Patients will receive personalized health solutions that are integrated in their daily lives with various digital solutions.
Alongside this overhaul of the healthcare system, tectonic shifts in global, public, and private sector budgets are expected. Trillions of dollars will be spent differently than they are today.
And as the global pandemic has proven to be a catalyst for reshaping healthcare, venture capitalists are now reaching deep into their pockets. And in 2020 they delivered a record level of funding to medical-related developments.
In fact, healthcare startups raised a whopping $81 billion in 2020, a 50% increase from 2019.
And as the healthcare market continues to grow, investors will look for opportunities among companies that provide improved quality, decreased healthcare cost, and a better experience for patients and caregivers.
Camilla Oxhamre Cruse, Ph.D., is a global equity research analyst.
