Healthcare stakeholders can no longer lag on digital transformation, and tapping into innovation can sate convenience-hungry consumers and tackle some massive challenges compressing their bottom lines.Personalization and convenience have become table stakes in nearly every industry, and consumers are extending demands for these digital-powered experiences to healthcare — US consumers have expressed a willingness to jump ship to care services that can provide them with better digital experiences.

Not only do healthcare incumbents that embrace digitization stand to attract mindshare with consumers demanding hyper-convenient care, but they can also leverage innovation to attract business and avoid overspending. For instance, payers are incorporating digital tools into their benefits packages to boost health outcomes and slash care costs, while health systems are turning to telemedicine and AI to combat labor shortages and ease the transition to new reimbursement models. And in the background, pharma companies and medical device makers are betting on digital tech to branch into new revenue streams, and distributors are tapping blockchain to clog cash-draining holes in supply chains.

Incumbents that don’t react risk losing business to new entrants stocked with digital prowess to cut costs and remain nimble. Big tech companies — including Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, and Microsoft — and niche digital entrants, such as American Well and Livongo, are building out their businesses, encroaching on the incumbent territory, and increasing competition.

Digital Health Startups & Companies

Here are some of the top digital health tech startups and companies:

• Amazon
• Fitbit
• Uber
• Microsoft
• Apple
• Walmart

These entrants aim to lure consumers from traditional healthcare players through their consumer-first, tech-focused approaches. And since they’re less encumbered by massive member populations and antiquated infrastructure, they could be better positioned to roll out digital solutions and lure in consumers. That’s why we’re seeing entrenched players strategize to take advantage of the services these newcomers offer — through partnerships and acquisitions — rather than lose chunks of their business to them.

In this report, Business Insider Intelligence will explore the current healthcare ecosystem, the key trends driving digital transformation, and what we expect to see in the year ahead. First, we untangle the industry’s web of stakeholders and outline how each is touched by digital transformation.

We then sketch out the patient journey from the first point of health engagement all the way through reimbursement, highlighting how digital transformation opens pathways outside the standard journey of care delivery. Next, we examine the technologies driving the digital health boom as well as the companies leading the push. And finally, we map out the investment areas attracting the most funding to help illuminate the future of digital health delivery.

The companies mentioned in this report are: 23andMe, Aetna, Akili Interactive, Alphabet, Amazon, Amazon Care, Amazon Web Services, American Well, AmerisourceBergen, Ancestry, Anthem, Apple, Atomwise,  Atrium Health, Black Thorn Therapeutics, Blue Cross Blue Shield, CVS, CVS Caremark, Cardinal Health, Cerner, Cleveland Clinic, Clover Health, Color, DePuy Synthes, Devoted Health, Dexcom, Doctor on Demand, Eli Lilly, Express Scripts, First Stop Health, Fitbit, Fresenius Medical Care, GE Healthcare, Geisinger, GlaxoSmithKline, Google, Health Care Service Corporation, Health Catalyst, Henry Schein Medical, Humana, InTouch Health, Insilico, Intermountain Healthcare, Jefferson Health-Northeast, Johnson & Johnson, Kaiser Permanente, Lark, Livongo, Lyft, Mass General Hospital, McKesson, MediBloc, Meditech, Medtronic, Merck, Microsoft, Mount Sinai, Noom, NorthShore University HealthSystem, Northern Light Health, Novartis, Novo Nordisk, Ochsner Health System, Omada, Omron, One Drop, One Medical, OptumInsights, OptumRx, Oscar Healh, PWNHealth, Pear Therapeutics, Pfizer, Philips, PillPack, Propeller Health, Providence St. Joseph, Quartet Health, ResMed, Rite Aid, Roche, Sanofi, Senseonics, Solera Health, Stanford Medicine, Suki, Tallahassee Memorial Hospital, Talkspace, Tempus, TrialSpark, UCI Health System, Uber, Unite Us, UnitedHealth Group, Verily, Verizon, Virta Health, Walmart, and ZocDoc. 

Here are some key takeaways from this report: 

• US healthcare incumbents can no longer shy away from digital transformation, as it can provide solutions to pervasive challenges penetrating every corner of the healthcare ecosystem.
• Healthcare stakeholders interspersed throughout the landscape are strategizing how specific digital tools can address their unique needs — and failing to implement innovative tech can mean higher spending and loss of business down the line.
• Steering healthcare’s rapid digitization is a bevy of factors, including a convenience-hungry consumer base, a rise in leveraging wide-ranging clinical and nonclinical factors to guide personalized care, and surging chronic disease costs.
• Tech giants and fast-moving digital health upstarts are racing onto the scene — they stand to benefit legacy players looking for partners, but also threaten to eat away at sluggish incumbents’ bottom lines.
• Key digital health solutions like telehealth, digital therapeutics, genetic testing services, AI, wearables, cloud computing, and blockchain are catalyzing the healthcare industry’s digital revolution.
• Evidence that digital health can fill in some major gaps in the healthcare industry is stoking attention from incumbents and investors alike, with US digital health funding continuing on an upward trajectory, specifically in sectors like AI and tech solutions for behavioral health.