As 2022 comes to a close, MobiHealthNews asked executives from across the digital health industry about their biggest takeaways from the year.
Check out their insights below on topics ranging from improving health equity to the continued use of virtual healthcare, especially for behavioral and mental health.
Chris Brickler, cofounder and CEO of MyndVR
“It’s important not to get comfortable. In early to mid-2022, there was a huge amount of speculation – in digital healthcare, unicorns became a little less rare. Towards the end of the year, things took a drastic shift. To be completely honest, over the last two years, a lot of companies, in digital health or otherwise, had unreasonable and unrealistic valuations, and we’re seeing the consequences of that now. In healthcare, you could put the word ‘digital’ in front of whatever product you were trying to sell and increase your valuation by a $100 million overnight. 2023 is going to look a lot different.”
Christopher Lis, managing director of global healthcare intelligence at J.D. Power
“Some major developments this year were major acquisitions by CVS and Amazon, among others. Amazon got out of the pool by shutting down Amazon Care, and then it jumped right back with the announcement of Amazon Clinic.
“In many ways, the healthcare sector is ripe for innovation and investment, but overall funding has shifted down. Q3 2022 was the lowest funding quarter since before the pandemic (Q4 2019). Through Q3 2022, year-to-date funding totals are at about $12.6 billion, while all of 2021 totaled $29.2 billion. Funding levels for Q4 2022 and for 2023 will certainly be something to watch.”
Gabriel Mecklenburg, cofounder and executive chairman of Hinge Health
“Throughout 2022, the need for personalized care was more widely recognized, and the ability to deliver that at scale grew using digital platforms. Women’s health in particular spotlighted that a one-size-fits-all approach does not work and, in fact, creates care gaps for women in areas from family planning and fertility to pelvic healthcare. There were really interesting and valuable applications of AI and data to bridge the care gap; help care providers make better decisions and deliver personalized patient experiences.”
Corey McCann, president and CEO of Pear Therapeutics
“Integrating digital technologies into mainstream medicine remains both the challenge and the opportunity. The conversation has shifted from if digital technologies will become mainstream medicine to when. Additionally, interest in direct-to-consumer strategies seems to be back at pre-COVID levels.”
Myoung Cha, chief strategy officer and president of home-based care at Carbon Health
“My three takeaways are: 1) macroeconomic slowdown, lower valuations and more constrained capital environment; 2) consolidation in a few key segments like primary care and value-based care; and 3) the early seeds of promise in areas like interoperability, price transparency and artificial intelligence.”
Dr. Jon Bloom, cofounder and CEO of Podimetrics
“One of my biggest takeaways from 2022 is that we are starting to make headway in driving actual change when it comes to addressing health equity challenges that have plagued patients and the healthcare industry for centuries. Most importantly in 2022, there has been a strong realization by providers and health plans alike that if we want to improve health equity, we need to be in patients’ homes and active in their communities.”
