Digital Health Innovators Need to Deliver Results This Year

Digital health innovators will need to start delivering tangible results, not just hype, for consumers this year, judged the HIMSS 2019 Healthcare Trends Report. The report predicted that digital health innovations that will start having more real-world applications include artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, virtual reality/augmented reality, wearables and implantable devices, digital therapeutics, and voice recognition/digital assistants. In terms of AI and machine learning, HIMSS expects to see broader adoption in population health to improve identification of individuals at risk and to deliver precision medicine. Virtual reality and augmented reality will soon become a routine treatment for pain control after surgery and for chronic pain control, the report judged. Wearables and implantable devices will enable doctors to more easily detect chronic conditions and monitor treatment effectiveness. HIMSS predicts increasing use of digital therapeutics as an adjunct and alternative to traditional treatments, for example, prevention and treatment of chronic conditions.