Leading VCs Discuss how COVID-19 Has Impacted the World of Digital Health

In December 2019, Extra Crunch spoke to a group of investors leading the charge in health tech to discuss where they saw the most opportunity in the space leading into 2020.

At the time, respondents highlighted startups in digital therapeutics, telehealth and mental health that were improving medical practitioner efficiency or streamlining the distribution of care, amongst a variety of other digital health markets that were garnering the most attention.

In the months since, the COVID-19 crisis has debilitated national healthcare systems and the global economy. Weaknesses in healthcare systems have become clearer than ever, while startups and capital providers have struggled to operate while wide swaths of the market effectively shut down.

……………………………………………………………….

Jennifer Hartt & John Prendergass, Ben Franklin Technology Partners

Has COVID-19 significantly changed sentiment around healthcare and the adoption of digital health tools?

COVID-19 will rapidly push for increased information sharing and resource sharing across both hospital systems and across state lines. Digital health and telemedicine tools will be more rapidly adopted under pressing need. Those adoptions will benefit us permanently, even once we get past the peak crisis of the pandemic at hand.

How can digital health companies best respond to the events around COVID-19?

Digital health companies need to create road maps to implementation that rely on far fewer in-hospital meetings and demos and integration testing. They can position themselves for rapid response and remote monitoring wherever applicable.

Many companies have tools that will be deprioritized. Those companies will need to buckle down and plan for a hit to revenue. Tools relevant to more elective surgeries, well-visits and preventive care will likely take a hit.

Read the full article here.

Previous

Next