Today, BCG Digital Ventures (BCGDV), a subsidiary of the Boston Consulting Group (BCG), has released a new report that sheds light on predicted healthcare innovations for 2022.

With virtual mental health a trend during the exponential growth of remote care, AI and femtech, the survey focuses on three key areas that might increasingly shape future medical care.

WHY IT MATTERS

The annually published report is a qualitative study that collects predictions from 14 global healthcare experts within the BCG Digital Ventures network.

“They represent a broad range of disciplines at Digital Ventures – from product, strategic design to engineering. Before joining BCGDV, they practised as medical doctors or worked in industries such as health insurance, medtech or pharma”, the company spokesperson informed Healthcare IT News.

BCGDV predicts that the ‘new normal’ of remote and hybrid working models, which have increased throughout the pandemic, will deeply impact future health care provision. Many of the newly launched tools, solutions, platforms and business models in the digital field will persist and grow, according to the forecast.

Looking back at 2021, the report notes a high demand for virtual mental health consultations. Sixty-per-cent of all virtual medical visits have been delivered in this field last year.

Another result concerns innovation through ‘femtech’: digital technologies and applications related to women’s health are increasingly gaining importance – more so as this has been a gap in care in the US with only three per cent of all health deals since 2011 focusing on this area. In contrast, however, according to the authors, women take a predominant role in health decisions and have about one-third higher health expenditures.

Lastly, artificial intelligence (AI) gains significance and undergoes stronger scrutiny procedures in the US with more than a hundred new AI and machine learning (ML) based device approvals by the FDA.

The new BCG Digital Ventures report is the second after its initial launch in 2021. The report series aims to present “what industry leaders must know in order to navigate the changing means and modes of health care delivery.”

THE LARGER TREND

BCG Digital Ventures was founded in 2014 as a multidisciplinary network of entrepreneurs, operators and investors. 

The growing demand for virtual mental health care was also a panel discussion topic at HIMSS21 APAC Conference last November.

ON THE RECORD

Andre Heeg, Managing Director and Partner & Leader for the Healthcare Practice of BCG Digital Ventures in Europe, Middle East, South America and Africa region, commented on the mainstream trending of digital mental health: “The COVID-19 pandemic has opened the public’s eyes to mental and behavioural health issues.

"As of January 2021, US adults had reported symptoms of anxiety and/or depressive disorder that showed a four-fold increase from 2019. The rise of open conversations around mental health has ushered in a wave of digital offerings.”

Regarding women’s health, Heeg stated: “Most of the funding that has been provided has focused on reproductive health and fertility, keeping the multidimensional complexity (and opportunity) of women’s health out of the picture. This leaves a lot of white space for innovation and investment that address intersectionality in femtech.” 

The report is freely available for download here.