ORLANDO ― The year may have started with uncertainty on the future of the Affordable Care Act, but Frost & Sullivan does not see a slowdown in the advance of technology in healthcare.

At the HIMSS17 Conference in Orlando on Monday, Greg Caressi, senior vice president for healthcare and life sciences at Frost & Sullivan, laid out what he expects in the realm of mobile health and general health IT this year.

• It’s a world of uncertainty on the policy side, and Frost & Sullivan is already seeing hospitals delaying purchasing of non-essential IT products. Since executives don’t know what the world will look like in another year, they are being thrifty.
• Merger and acquisition activity in the tech space will not slow down.
• Price negotiations between providers and vendors will be tough. Both sides are being squeezed.
• Voice AI interfaces, like Amazon’s Alexa, will ramp up in healthcare. Right now, there’s consumer hype, but they could play a real role in patient engagement. Providers will implement those solutions more this year.
• The “quantified self” movement, which is all about consumer-driven data, will turn into potential dollars. UnitedHealth’s partnership with Trio Health’s step counter to reimburse beneficiaries for healthy activity is a good example. Bottom line: There’s value in the data.
• Platform interoperability is improving, and major tech companies will resolve their issues. The 21st Century Cures Act and groups like the Commonwell Alliance are driving change. FHIR should also have a large impact by the end of the year.
• Better interoperability means expanded healthcare ecosystems, linking providers, tech and patients more than ever.

This article is part of our ongoing coverage of HIMSS17. Visit Destination HIMSS17 for previews, reporting live from the show floor and after the conference.

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