The digitalization of health care has been much talked about over the last decade or so. But activity among the medical device manufacturers and service providers has only just recently accelerated as they start overcoming barriers and resistance to this new way of delivering health care. Unlike traditional medtech markets, digital health requires a different business model, with partnerships between device-makers and IT companies playing an integral role. This article takes an in-depth look at the players, their partnerships and products that are paving the way for a digital health future.

The digital age has helped bring a slow but steady revolution to the health-care space, where an increasing number of providers are looking at medical devices as more than simply tools for treating a patient. Technology now allows those devices to gather data that can be pooled with other information to offer a clearer picture into patient health in a way that has not been accomplished before. Although some aspects of health care’s evolution into a more data-centric practice are still being spoken about in the future tense, a significant amount of progress has already been achieved.

At the center of this transformation is data analytics, which builds on the ability of devices to collect data and share it in an aggregated form that can be utilized for more effective patient care. In many ways, this is a natural evolution, spurred on by the development of digital and wireless technology that recognizes medical devices are the source of the most immediate patient clinical information. Experts who work in this growing field say giving providers access to that data in a usable form creates a new stream of information that will help bring about revolutionary changes in the way health care is delivered.

The technology that makes using device-captured data possible is ready and now in use at some facilities around the country. In fact, Rob McCray, president & CEO of the Wireless-Life Sciences Alliance (WLSA), told Medtech Insight that technology is not a limiting factor in the immediate use of data analytics – it is the players, practices and old habits that need to be nudged into the future; however, McCray adds that important movement in that area is already occurring.