The Future Looks Bright For Digital Health Content
The pandemic was the catalyst for the birth of hundreds of new digital health technologies-- and a voracious appetite for new content. In fact, last February, Contently published a post with advice about how we could grab our piece of that lucrative pie.
Months later, the fervor seemed to die down a bit. In November, at HLTH 2022, there was talk about digital health investments cooling. L.E.K. Consulting did a survey of hospitals that found that they were shifting their focus from digital health to dealing with staff shortages and maintaining quality care. And the end of the year featured a spate of layoffs at digital health companies.
Now, as we’re finally settling into 2023, the reality seems to be shifting again--and the near future of digital health may be a bit brighter than we thought. Investments in digital health promise to stabilize and give content marketers more hope about our prospects this year.
Here are a few predictions from that Healthcare Dive and other sources that are giving me hope:
Some digital health businesses may be shifting to a B2B strategy. If, indeed, the shift to B2B happens, that should mean that companies will need more content to feed prospects at the various stages of the buyer journey. More may begin (or beef up) their blogs, order more white paper libraries, plan webinars, and more.
We may see more M&A deals, with some startups acquiring their competitors. With less competition, the acquiring companies may be ready to pump out content to promote their businesses.
Mental and behavioral health, family planning, women’s health will be among the most popular areas for funding. These are all hot topics and areas with lots of potential for developing engaging content of all kinds.
Healthcare providers will continue to invest in tools designed to reduce administrative burdens on their clinical staff. This will no doubt trigger a need for lots more content targeting healthcare systems and providers.
Clinicians will be using telehealth for "more high-value" chronic, and longitudinal care. This could open the door to many more opportunities to explore some exciting new frontiers in remote patient management, like wearable technology and sensors, symptom management tools, and more.
Not only that, some of the products that were showcased at the CES show in Las Vegas are looking like great candidates for all kinds of content. Products like the Addison 3D animated virtual caregiver, a device that analyzes urine samples from your toilet bowl, and the AeviceMD smart stethoscope just sound like fun, don't they? And, with more technology leveraging the power of AI, more opportunities to tell intriguing stories should follow.
It promises to be an interesting year.