We’re excited to share the topic and questions for this week’s #HITsm chat happening Friday, 1/28 at Noon ET (9 AM PT). This week’s chat will be hosted by Grace Vinton (@HITeaWithGrace) on the topic “Digital Health Puts the ‘Fun’ in Funding: What’s Next?”
Funding, funding, funding is the name of the game in #digitalhealth right now. A recent Rock Health year-end funding report found that funding for digital health startups nearly doubled last year ($29.1B) from 2020 ($14.9B). This industry is on FHIR, which begs the question: where is all this money going? Who is benefitting? And what areas will investors be targeting next?
Mental health, diabetes care, and musculoskeletal (MSK) care, as well as R&D in biopharma and medtech were all top areas of funding interest in 2021, so we are now seeing a total overhaul in these segments because of it. This looks like smarter, more predictive, purpose-built, and intuitive omnichannel care platforms and research capabilities are beyond what we ever thought might be possible a decade ago. That being said, outdated, burnout-inducing systems still need to be updated or replaced. Vulnerable patients (namely Medicaid, Medicare, and rare disease) and clinicians are fed up with being overlooked by dinosaur tech put in place eons ago to act as glorified cash registers rather than empowering them with meaningful, easy to access and use, value-driven quality data.
Doctors have had enough. Nurses have had enough. Patients have had enough. Informaticists have had enough. These voices will be heard. Antiquated systems in healthcare will continue to be overhauled. The future is now.
All right, #HITSM. Let’s talk about the future of digital health innovation funding and where we all see it heading.
Topics for this week’s #HITsm Chat:
T1: A Rock Health funding report noted the top three areas of #digitalhealth funding last year were mental health, diabetes care & musculoskeletal (MSK) care, + R&D in biopharma & medtech. What other areas received funding love & attention in 2021? https://bit.ly/3qunHUL #HITsm
T2: What does this massive injection of funding in #digitalhealth showcase about the industry? #HITsm
T3: What’s your opinion of #digitalhealth VC & PE investors? I’ve heard from investors that once you invest in something that save lives, it’s hard to invest in anything else. Do you think that investors being patients, or the children of patients informs the work they do? #HITsm
T4: Where do you see #digitalhealth funding trends heading in 2022? Where should they head? #HITsm
T5: Do you think there will be a greater emphasis on funding for #digitalhealth startups that help Medicaid and other vulnerable patients going forward? Why or why not? #HITsm
Bonus: Where will #digitalhealth innovation be a decade from now? Do you think funding will have a positive impact? Why or why not? #HITsm
Upcoming #HITsm Chat Schedule
2/4 – Black History Month
Hosted by Tiffanie Smith (@TifftheMarketer) from @KNBComm
2/11 – TBD
Hosted by TBD
2/18 – TBD
Hosted by TBD
2/25 – Mental Health, Going Into the 3rd Year of the Pandemic
Hosted by Anton C. Bizzell, MD (@drantonbizzell) from @TheBizzellGroup
We look forward to learning from the #HITsm community! As always, let us know if you’d like to host a future #HITsm chat or if you know someone you think we should invite to host.
If you’re searching for the latest #HITsm chat, you can always find the latest #HITsm chat and schedule of chats here.
