Amid the terror of the global pandemic, the digital health industry has exploded. The COVID-19 crisis presents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for innovative developments in preventive care. However, if we are not careful, this opportunity will slip away from us.
Policymakers have approved the use of telemedicine and also promoted the integration of medical devices with artificial intelligence. Governments of various countries have spent a lot of money to promote home-based COVID-19 testing. The United States alone has invested $47.8 billion in implementing a home-based COVID-19 testing strategy across the United States. Related measures include optimizing data sharing and diagnosis, with an average cost of about $143 per capita. Health administrators have responded, rolling out digital improvements that can reduce health care costs, speed up home care and improve detection of chronic diseases, a major source of death and medical bills in the United States.
This is a rare “Marshall Plan moment” to rebuild the health care system in a way that is cheaper, more effective and more humane. However, if we don’t change the rhetoric and continue to exaggerate what rendering technology can bring us, our industry will risk wasting this opportunity for nothing. Entrepreneurs in the tech world call the post-pandemic era the era of “disruptors,” who will overturn existing systems and replace them with entirely new ones, but they’re doing a disservice.
We will not be able to afford to pay a price if Silicon Valley’s “move fast and break things” culture continues in healthcare. Such a practice would affect the health and safety of patients, jeopardize the resilience of hospitals, and damage the trust of regulators.
Elizabeth Holmes, sentenced to 11 years in prison, is a grim reminder of how devastating this “disruptive” hype could be for the healthcare industry.
We can’t go back. Nearly a quarter of Americans forgo medical care because of cost. Healthcare spending accounts for 20 percent of U.S. gross domestic product and is expected to continue growing. Persistent inflation will only exacerbate the problem. The current situation is not sustainable.
Paradoxically, it is precisely the promise of digital health prosperity that is undermining its future. Many public companies, valued in the billions not long ago, are now trading at just a few percent of face value. They overpromised and underdelivered, squandering billions in real money that could have been spent improving patient care, and undermining the already tenuous trust of regulators and investors.
The media hype made the situation worse. Journalists trumpet the health tech fairy tales of unicorns and private companies churning out “disruptive” products capable of transforming the existing healthcare system.
We’ve been in this situation before. Some of you may recall early assertions that AI would replace doctors. In 2014, IBM announced that its Watson system would revolutionize cancer treatment. In fact, its AI can’t even tell the difference between different types of cancer. In 2016, artificial intelligence pioneer Jeffrey Hinton announced that radiologists would be obsolete within a few years. In fact, research in both areas is still in its infancy, and experts say it will be many years before these solutions become a reality.
If exaggeration damages trust, outright deceit can be disastrous. At the height of Theranos hype in 2014, Elizabeth Holmes falsely claimed that her $10 billion company could perform hundreds of tests on a single drop of blood. At the time, investors were asking me to make my startup “more like Theranos.” After only two years, they asked me to prove that we are nothing like Theranos!
This has caused incalculable harm to the industry. Shocked and disappointed, VC firms chose “safer” industries. Regulators halted approvals. The crime of just one Stanford grad wiped out years of industry investment.
In the wake of COVID-19, 2021 is shaping up to be a record year for digital health, with nearly $30 billion in funding in the US alone, thanks to massive government investment and new regulatory initiatives. However, entering 2022, industry financing and valuations will drop sharply. It’s not enough to blame the recession for the fact that the digital health industry has suffered more than other tech industries.
If we move in the right direction and drive the digital health industry around clinical-grade innovations and medically validated protocols, our industry is deflationary and better positioned to adapt to market trends. The next batch of companies in the industry will have to last. To do this, we must foster an ethos of honest dialogue about what innovation can and cannot achieve. Otherwise, we wake up five years later and find that hundreds of billions of dollars have been spent for no real value or clinical significance.
What we need to talk about is not disruption, but collaboration. What we have to do is not to make a big picture and promise to produce a panacea, but to continue to innovate to promote sustainable and systemic progress, especially to use innovation to solve health problems of public concern. Above all, we must listen: Let the expertise of physicians and health managers, as well as the needs of patients, drive our decisions, not rush them. (Fortune Chinese website)
Yonatan Adiri is the founder and CEO of Health.io. In July, the company won FDA approval for its smartphone at-home kidney test.
Commentary articles on the Fortune magazine website are solely the author’s personal views and do not represent the views and positions of Fortune magazine.
Translated by Agatha
Amid the horror of a global pandemic, it happened: Digital health exploded. The urgency of the COVID crisis provided a once-in-a-century opportunity to jump-start innovation in preventive care. However, if we are not careful, this opportunity will slip through our hands
Policymakers enabled access to telehealth and advanced the incorporation of artificial intelligence (AI) in medical devices. Governments spent billions to make home COVID testing accessible. The US alone dedicated $47.8 billion to implement a national at-home COVID testing data lubrication strategy, inc sharing and diagnostics—roughly $143 per person. Health administrators rose to the occasion and introduced cost-saving digital improvements that accelerated home care and improved the detection of chronic diseases, the leading drivers of death and costs in the US
It was a rare “Marshall Plan moment” to rebuild health care in a more affordable, efficient, and humane way. Yet our industry risks squandering this opportunity if we don’t change our discourse and stop overselling what our technology can do. Tech entrepreneurs , who claim that the post-COVID era is the time to be “disrupters” by blowing up the system as we know it and replacing it with something entirely different, are doing a great disservice to health care.
Adopting the Silicon Valley culture of “move fast and break things” in health care will have a cost we cannot bear. It will impact patients’ health and safety, risk hospitals’ resilience, and compromise the regulators’ trust.
The sentencing of Elizabeth Holmes to 11 years in prison is a grim reminder of the devastating consequences the “disruption” hype can have for health care.
We can’t afford to go back. Nearly one in four Americans skip medical care because of the cost. Health expenditure accounts for 20% of the US GDP and is expected to keep growing. Persistent inflation will only aggravate the problem. The current situation is unsustainable.
Paradoxically, the very promises of the digital health boom are now undermining its future. Many publicly traded companies, which were recently valued in the billions, are now trading for cents on the dollar. They overpromised and underdelivered, wasted billions that were earmarked to im patient care, and jeopardized the already fragile trust of regulators and investors.
Media hype compounded the problem as journalists trumpeted the fairy tale of health-tech unicorns and private companies with “game-changing” products to transform the health care system as we know it.
We have been here before. Some might remember the early predictions that AI would replace doctors. In 2014, IBM announced that its Watson system would revolutionize cancer care. Under the hood, its AI had trouble even distinguishing between different forms of cancer. , AI pioneer Geoffrey Hinton proclaimed that radiologists would be obsolete in a few years. In both cases, the work is still preliminary, and experts say it will be years before such solutions come to pass.
If exaggeration is bad for trust, outright deception is fatal. At the height of the Theranos hype in 2014, Elizabeth Holmes falsely claimed that her company, valued at $10 billion, could run hundreds of tests on a single drop of blood. , investors urged me to make my own startup “more like Theranos.” Just two years later, they asked me to prove we were nothing like Theranos!
The damage caused to the industry was immeasurable. Shocked and disappointed, venture capital firms opted for “safer” sectors. Regulators halted approvals. Years of investment were lost over one Stanford graduate’s crimes.
In the wake of COVID, massive government investments and new regulation initiatives made 2021 a record-breaking year for digital health, with private financial rounds reaching nearly $30 billion in the US alone. However, 2022 saw a precious drop in funding and Blumings. The economic downturn is not a sufficient explanation when, in fact, digital health suffered more than other tech sectors.
When done right and built around clinical-grade innovation and alongside medical protocols of verification, digital health is deflationary and can be more resilient to market trends. The next crop of companies must be built to last. To do that, we must cultivate an honest conversation about what innovation can and cannot achieve. Otherwise, we’ll wake up five years from now to hundreds of billions spent with no real value or clinical impact to show for it.
Instead of talking about disruption, we need to talk about collaboration. Instead of promising a panacea, we need to produce innovation that supports sustainable, systemic progress, especially on mass-population health problems. Above all, we must listen: Let the expertise of Physicians and health administrators and the needs of patients drive our decision-making instead of getting ahead of ourselves.
Yonatan Adiri is the founder and CEO of Healthy.io. In July, the company received clearance from the FDA for its smartphone-powered at-home kidney test.
The opinions expressed in Fortune.com commentary pieces are solely the views of their authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of Fortune.
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