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Future of Healthcare: How Intelligent Automation, Bioconvergence & More Will Redefine Care

Future of Healthcare: How Intelligent Automation, Bioconvergence & More Will Redefine Care

Susi Wallner

June 14, 2025

This report explores 8 strategic trends and 7 emerging technologies shaping the future of healthcare. From patient-centric and value-based care to agentic AI and sustainable infrastructure, they are transforming care delivery, operations, and financial resilience. Explore data-driven insights and actionable intelligence to future-proof your healthcare organization and stay competitive.
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The future of healthcare is on the brink of a transformative era, with the global healthcare services market projected to expand to USD 22.57 trillion by 2032.

However, the World Health Organization estimates a projected shortfall of 11 million health workers by 2030. This shortage is made worse by an aging population and the rise in chronic diseases.

This future of health technology report breaks down the strategic imperatives necessary for you to explore key futuristic trends, technological catalysts propelling innovation, major players, and more to construct future-ready health systems. Additionally, it offers a database of 50+ high-growth, high-impact startups spearheading these innovations.

 

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Key Takeaways

How Do We Research and Where is This Data From?

We reviewed 3100+ industry innovation reports to extract key insights and construct a comprehensive guide for integrating healthcare technologies and strategies to streamline operations. To increase accuracy, we cross-validated this information with external industry sources.

Additionally, we leveraged the StartUs Insights Discovery Platform – an AI and Big Data-powered innovation intelligence tool covering over 7 million startups and more than 20K+ technologies & trends worldwide to:

  • Confirm our findings using the Trend Intelligence feature.
  • Gather market statistics for each technology.
  • Identify startups for the “Spotlighting an Innovator” sections.

FAQs

How to achieve financial sustainability while providing value-based care?

Value-based care models emphasize preventive care and chronic disease management that improve patient outcomes and reduce costs.

Implementing predictive analytics and optimizing revenue cycle management reduces readmissions and streamlines operations. This further enhances financial sustainability.

How to transform our organization for digital-first healthcare delivery?

Embracing digital transformation by the integration of AI, telehealth, and electronic health records (EHR) enhances patient engagement and operational efficiency.

Additionally, investing in cybersecurity and interoperable systems ensures secure, improved care delivery in a digital-first environment.

How to build a resilient workforce while improving patient outcomes?

Developing a resilient workforce involves implementing wellness programs that offer flexible work arrangements and provide professional development opportunities to combat burnout and improve retention.

A strong culture of safety and support enhances the well-being of employees, which in turn leads to improved patient experiences and outcomes.

1. Patient-Centric, Value-Based Operating Models

The future of healthcare will shift from volume-based care to one focused on delivering better health outcomes per dollar spent.

Rather than treating isolated episodes of illness, care is coordinated across the entire continuum, with patients engaged as active participants in managing their health. Hospitals and providers restructure processes to prioritize quality, safety, and patient experience instead of the number of services delivered.

Fee-for-service models have resulted in fragmented care, quality inconsistencies, and excess costs. Nearly 20% of global healthcare spending goes to low-value interventions.

In contrast, value-based care aligns financial incentives with improved outcomes and cost control. It also supports the Triple Aim (better care, better health, lower cost) and its evolution into the Quadruple Aim, which emphasizes clinician well-being.

The World Health Organization advocates for a “fundamental shift toward people-centered systems” to achieve universal health coverage and high-quality, equitable care.

Key Drivers

  • Rising Healthcare Costs: National health expenditures are projected to reach USD 7.2 trillion by 2031 in the US alone, therefore pushing systems to adopt cost-effective care models.
  • Chronic Disease Burden: Chronic conditions now account for over 75% of deaths globally. This necessitates integrated, coordinated care pathways.
  • Consumer Expectations: Patients demand personalized, accessible, and outcome-focused care, which influences provider strategies and digital investments.
  • Policy Reform: Programs like Medicare Shared Savings and value-based purchasing are expanding across regions to reward performance over volume.

Spotlighting an Innovator: ValueSCORE

US-based startup ValueSCORE develops a healthcare value‑measurement tool for evaluating organizational performance.

The company aggregates publicly reported metrics across safety, cost, outcomes, provider and patient engagement, and social risk factors to compute a comprehensive score that benchmarks hospitals and health systems.

It applies a proprietary algorithm that adjusts performance metrics based on social determinants of health and tracks improvement over time.

The tool also features equity‑adjusted scoring, change‑in‑performance visibility, customizable peer benchmarking, and readiness assessment for value‑based contracting.

2. Enterprise-Wide Data Governance & Interoperability

As the healthcare industry digitizes operations, the ability to share, manage, and protect data across clinical, administrative, and research domains becomes foundational to health system resilience.

Enterprise-wide data governance and interoperability ensure that information is accurate, secure, and accessible. It supports coordinated care, predictive analytics, and population health strategies.

Even though many healthcare organizations use electronic health records (EHRs), almost 70% of them say it is hard to combine and standardize data from different sources.

These problems with interoperability lead to unnecessary tests, longer wait times for diagnoses, and broken care. This costs an estimated USD 30 billion a year in the US healthcare system alone.

Global policy momentum is reinforcing this priority. The US 21st Century Cures Act mandates open application programming interfaces (APIs) and patient access to digital records, while the EU’s European Health Data Space initiative promotes cross-border data sharing for care and research.

 

 

Over 129 countries are now developing national digital health strategies. This emphasizes the importance of data interoperability and governance.

Key Drivers

  • Fragmented Systems: Health organizations operate on disparate IT systems that limit data liquidity and undermine system-wide performance.
  • Data Volume Explosion: Healthcare generates 30% of the world’s data, with a projected 36% annual growth rate.
  • AI & Analytics Enablement: Reliable, standardized, and shareable data is the backbone for deploying AI in diagnostics, early warning, and operational optimization.
  • Patient Expectations: Consumers increasingly expect transparent, personalized, and data-informed care journeys. This makes real-time, interoperable systems a competitive differentiator.

Spotlighting an Innovator: Halo Connect

Halo Connect is an Australian company that offers a healthcare interoperability platform with APIs to connect cloud and on-premise practice management systems.

It installs a local agent, Halo Link, that securely connects databases to a cloud endpoint for software providers to query practice data via SQL or FHIR without direct database access.

The platform also supports SQL passthrough for uncovered data while ensuring end-to-end encryption and Azure cloud hosting to maintain security and reliability. This way, the company reduces IT overhead and enables federated, real-time data exchange across clinics.

3. Talent & Workforce Reinvention

Not only does technology play a role in the future of healthcare, but so does a strong, retrained, and supported workforce. Across the globe, health systems are facing burnout, labor shortages, and evolving competency demands driven by digital transformation.

Reinventing the workforce means rethinking job roles that expand digital literacy and building care teams equipped for hybrid, tech-enabled care environments.

The World Health Organization estimated a projected global shortfall of 11 million health workers by 2030, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. In the US, nearly 46% of healthcare workers report symptoms of burnout.

Europe anticipates a demand of 1.6 million additional healthcare professionals by 2035 to meet rising care demands from aging populations.

At the same time, McKinsey found that 30% of nurses’ tasks can be automated to free up clinical time for more meaningful patient interaction. However, this shift requires deliberate investment in workforce transformation.

Currently, only 18% of clinicians are aware of any Gen-AI policy at their organization, and 24% say onboarding/training supports them to contribute faster.

Key Drivers

  • Burnout and Attrition: Post-pandemic fatigue and administrative burden continue to drive workforce exits, with increased nurse turnover rates in some regions.
  • Digital Care Delivery: New care models like virtual-first, remote patient monitoring (RPM), and AI-supported triage demand new skill sets in clinical training.
  • Aging Workforce: One-third of doctors and one-fourth of nurses in OECD countries were over 55. This signals an approaching retirement wave, with over 45% of doctors in Italy, Latvia, and Estonia falling in this age bracket and nearly 40% of nurses in Latvia alone.
  • Equity and Diversity: Health systems are increasingly focused on recruiting and retaining a more inclusive workforce to reflect patient demographics and improve cultural competence in care.

Spotlighting an Innovator: Hoth Intelligence

Hoth Intelligence is a US-based startup that provides an augmented reality (AR) software platform for medical imaging and surgical navigation. It combines AI and markerless AR registration in Microsoft HoloLens 2 headset to overlay patient-specific 3D models onto the surgical field.

The platform aligns imaging via ultra-fast facial surface mapping and depth sensors. This eliminates manual recalibration and registers models in approximately 10–20 seconds without fiducial markers.

It also enhances procedural accuracy and workflow by providing immersive, patient-specific visual guidance for planning burr-hole placement, VP shunt insertion, glioma resection, and other cranial and spine procedures.

This supports immersive surgical training and reduces reliance on separate screens by integrating anatomical overlays and interactive trajectory tools into the surgeon’s view.

4. Preventive & Proactive Care

Preventive and proactive care emphasizes early intervention, risk prediction, and long-term wellness. By identifying and addressing health risks before they escalate, this model reduces the burden of chronic disease, lowers costs, and improves health outcomes.

Globally, non-communicable diseases (NCDs), including diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer, account for 74% of all deaths. However, many NCDs are preventable through early screening, lifestyle interventions, and timely treatment.

For example, preventable chronic conditions drive over 90% of healthcare spending in the US.

The preventive healthcare market, including screenings, vaccinations, and wellness programs, is projected to exceed USD 585.6 billion by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 11.8%.

Additionally, US digital-health venture funding totaled USD 10.7 billion, with diagnostics and monitoring among the top-funded categories

Key Drivers

  • Chronic Disease Prevalence: With over 1.7 billion people living with NCDs and mental health conditions, governments are being urged to develop more ambitious national responses to address these challenges.
  • Technology Enablement: Advances in AI, wearables, and biomarkers enable continuous monitoring, risk stratification, and early warnings at scale.
  • Payer and Policy Alignment: Health insurers and public systems are increasingly reimbursing for preventive services and outcomes-based models.
  • Consumer Behavior Shift: Individuals are seeking more control over their health journeys. This drives demand for digital health tools, nutrition plans, and virtual wellness coaching.

Spotlighting an Innovator: Aeon

Aeon is a Swiss startup that builds a multimodal preventive health platform. It integrates full‑body MRI, blood biomarkers, genetic testing, and AI into a single check‑up.

The startup performs a radiation‑free MRI scan (up to mid‑thigh) alongside comprehensive blood analysis of cardiovascular, metabolic, and inflammatory markers. It also applies AI for automated imaging analysis, cross‑validation of datasets, and predictive modeling.

The platform also features insurer partnerships that enable cost reimbursement, a companion app delivering consolidated results, and more.

5. Universal Health Coverage (UHC) & Health Equity

Achieving universal health coverage and advancing health equity ensures that every individual, regardless of geography, income, race, or gender, has access to essential health services. It also addresses structural disparities affecting health outcomes.

The World Health Organization reports that more than half the global population lacks full coverage for essential health services. Out-of-pocket expenses push nearly half a billion people into extreme poverty every year due to healthcare costs.

Meanwhile, systemic inequities lead to disproportionate disease burdens. For example, maternal mortality in low-income countries is over 40 times higher than in high-income ones.

 

 

Governments and multilateral institutions are prioritizing equitable health access through funding reforms, digital outreach, and localized care delivery.

The UHC2030 initiative, backed by the UN and World Bank, is working with over 90 countries to strengthen financial protection and primary care capacity.

In parallel, health equity funds, inclusive tech platforms, and rural telehealth programs are narrowing access gaps.

Key Drivers

  • Socioeconomic Disparities: Social determinants like housing, education, and income account for up to 80% to 90% of health outcomes, yet they are often overlooked in clinical settings.
  • Urban-Rural Divide: In many low and middle-income countries, rural areas have fewer healthcare providers per capita than urban regions.
  • Migrant & Indigenous Health Gaps: Marginalized communities frequently experience higher rates of untreated chronic conditions, infectious diseases, and mental health disorders.
  • Digital Inclusion: While digital health is a powerful enabler, 2.6 billion people globally remain offline, which limits their access to virtual care and health education.

Spotlighting an Innovator: EnviroMedical

EnviroMedical, an Irish company, develops a sustainable PPE and clinical waste management system for healthcare facilities.

Its PPE is designed for reuse or recyclability and deploys a five‑stage process. That includes advisory, installation of recycling infrastructure, scheduled collection, eco‑friendly processing, and green reporting to capture lifecycle data and reduce waste.

The company uses bacterial inactivation technology that meets WHO and UN standards and achieves up to 8 log₁₀ reduction in pathogens. Its green reporting system tracks key impact metrics like carbon savings, waste reduction, and time saved, while also eliminating single-use plastic waste.

EnviroMedical enables healthcare providers to implement circular, compliant, data‑driven waste practices. This reduces environmental impact, resource consumption, and operational burden.

6. Climate Change and Sustainable Healthcare

Climate change drives a rise in heat-related illnesses, vector-borne diseases, food insecurity, and mental health crises. Simultaneously, the healthcare sector contributes significantly to environmental degradation. This accounts for 4.4% of global carbon emissions.

Extreme weather events, like floods and wildfires, have led to over 410 000 deaths since 2010. This annual death toll is attributed to disrupted healthcare access and worsening chronic disease conditions.

Between 2030 and 2050, climate change is expected to cause approximately 250 000 additional deaths per year from undernutrition, malaria, diarrhea, and heat stress alone.

By 2030, climate-related health risks could push more than 100 million additional people into poverty. Moreover, healthcare supply chains and infrastructure are increasingly vulnerable to these environmental stressors.

In response, global initiatives like UN’s Race to Zero and the WHO Health and Climate Change global survey are guiding countries and health systems toward decarbonization, climate-resilient infrastructure, and sustainable procurement.

Key Drivers

  • Healthcare Emissions: Hospitals are among the most energy-intensive buildings, with operating rooms producing 3 to 6 times more emissions per square foot than commercial offices.
  • Climate-Exacerbated Disease Burden: Rising temperatures and environmental degradation are expanding the range of diseases like malaria, dengue, and respiratory disorders.
  • Supply Chain Vulnerabilities: Disrupted access to medicines, PPE, and equipment during climate emergencies undermines patient safety and operational continuity.
  • Regulatory & Investor Pressure: Governments, insurers, and ESG-conscious investors are pushing for transparent climate disclosures, green certifications, and low-emission medical technologies.

Spotlighting an Innovator: Saga Medi

Saga Medi is a Dutch company that provides a reusable kidney dish for clinical settings. It constructs the dish using durable, autoclavable plastic and mimics traditional stainless-steel basins while supporting cleaning and repeated reuse.

The startup integrates contour edges that fit securely on bed frames or chairs. This streamlines workflows by enabling the separation of instruments, fluids, and waste within one unit.

Consequently, Saga Medi reduces single-use plastic waste, long-term cost savings over disposable models, and maintenance of zero-latex, non-reactive surfaces for patient safety.

7. Managing Aging & Chronic Disease Costs

The dual challenge of aging populations and chronic disease prevalence is placing unprecedented financial pressure on global healthcare systems.

As people live longer with multiple chronic conditions, managing long-term care costs, maintaining quality of life, and reducing hospital dependency become central to sustainable health planning.

By 2050, one in six people globally will be over the age of 65. Seniors already account for over 40% of total healthcare spending in the US.

Meanwhile, chronic diseases like cardiovascular conditions, diabetes, and respiratory disorders account for over 74% of all years lived with disability (YLDs).

In Europe, chronic diseases account for 70% to 80% of the costs of the healthcare system.

The financial implications are massive. According to the World Economic Forum, five key chronic diseases could cost the global economy USD 47 trillion in lost productivity and healthcare spending by 2030.

Without intervention, national healthcare budgets will face widening deficits, particularly in low and middle-income countries.

Key Drivers

  • Multimorbidity: Over 94% of adults age 60 and older live with two or more chronic conditions. This requires integrated and coordinated care pathways.
  • Institutional Care Costs: Long-term care facilities and hospitalizations for elderly patients are expensive, with the median monthly cost of a nursing home being USD 8669. This is more than home and community-based alternatives.
  • Preventable Disease Burden: Many chronic diseases stem from modifiable lifestyle factors, yet health systems still overinvest in treatment rather than prevention.
  • Caregiver Shortages: Rising demand for eldercare is outpacing the availability of professional caregivers. This places strain on families and informal care networks.

Spotlighting an Innovator: Chatdok Health

Chatdok Health is a German company that builds a generative AI-powered medical chatbot. It analyzes images to deliver personalized care and virtual consultations.

The chatbot combines a secure large language model (LLM) and image-processing algorithms to analyze uploaded medical images like skin lesions, X-rays, or MRIs. It assesses patient-reported symptoms via text and video input while adhering to HIPAA and GDPR standards.

The startup integrates this chatbot with on-demand video visits, medication reminders, chronic care monitoring, and provider-facing analytics dashboards to track trends, alerts, adherence, and outcomes.

Further, the chatbot features multimodal input handling, physician-led chronic care workflows, predictive analytics, and secure tracking of vitals and imaging inputs. Chatdok Health improves chronic and general health outcomes while elevating efficiency in healthcare delivery.

8. Patient Payment Model & Insurance Innovation

Future-ready health systems are transitioning toward innovative payment and insurance models that emphasize affordability, financial protection, and outcome-based reimbursement.

Globally, out-of-pocket health spending accounts for over 40% of total healthcare expenditure in many low and middle-income countries, pushing millions into financial distress.

 

 

In the US, nearly 1 in 10 adults carry medical debt, and 25% of Americans report skipping care due to cost. These patterns are unsustainable and have triggered a wave of innovation in how healthcare is financed.

Value-based insurance design (VBID), bundled payments, capitation models, and digital-first insurance products are being piloted and scaled worldwide.

At the same time, insurtech startups raised over USD 4.9 billion in 2023, with companies like Oscar Health, Bright Health, and Alan reimagining insurance through personalization, transparency, and digital engagement.

Key Drivers

  • Affordability Crisis: Rising premiums and out-of-pocket costs are deterring patients from seeking timely care, worsening health outcomes, and increasing long-term costs.
  • Policy Incentives: Governments are tying reimbursement to outcomes. For example, the US Medicare Advantage program and integrated care contracts in the EU both reward improved patient outcomes.
  • Consumer-Centric Models: Patients now demand greater control over healthcare spending. There is also a growing interest in high-deductible plans paired with digital tools for cost comparison and care navigation.
  • Technology-led Innovation: Digital wallets, real-time billing transparency, usage-based pricing, and embedded insurance in employer platforms are reshaping patient financial experiences.

Spotlighting an Innovator: HealthPay

Indian startup HealthPay develops an AI-integrated revenue cycle management (RCM) solution for automating health insurance claim processing. It digitizes paper claims and extracts unstructured medical and non-medical data using a proprietary language model.

The solution routes documents through modular AI agents across pre-authorization, medico, non-medico, and audit workflows. HealthPay reduces turnaround time and lowers processing costs while providing real-time insights into deductions and streamlining adjudication.

 

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7 High-Growth Technologies Steering Healthcare’s Next Decade

1. Agentic AI & Ambient Clinical Intelligence

Agentic AI and ambient clinical intelligence systems confront rising costs, workforce shortages, and mounting administrative complexity.

These technologies alleviate clinician burnout caused by excessive documentation while enabling real-time, data-driven decision-making in hospitals, clinics, and more.

Their growing relevance is reflected in the investment trends as healthcare AI receives USD 7.2 billion in funding. This amount accounts for 21% of all healthcare VC funding.

60% of this funding is directed toward administrative AI tools such as medical scribes and virtual assistants, and 27% of investments and 42% of deal volume originated from startups focused on administrative automation.

Leading this wave, Abridge raised USD 150 million to advance generative AI for clinical documentation, while Suki AI secured USD 70 million, bringing its total funding to USD 165 million, to develop AI-powered assistants for hospital bedsides.

Use Cases

  • Ambient Encounter Documentation: AI-powered systems passively listen to physician-patient conversations during consultations, transcribe the interaction, and intelligently generate structured clinical notes for electronic health records (EHRs).
  • Agentic Virtual Front Desk and Triage: Agentic AI automates routine administrative interactions at scale. Conversational AI agents act as virtual front-desk assistants, answer inbound calls, verify insurance, and triage symptoms. These intelligent agents respond in natural language and reduce wait times.
  • Real-Time Clinical Copilots: Agentic AI systems are increasingly used for real-time clinical support. By continuously ingesting live data from bedside monitors, EHRs, lab reports, and even clinician speech, these systems provide intelligent prompts, early-warning alerts, and risk scores within the care environment.

Adoption Trends and Key Players

Spotlighting an Innovator: Astrix Health

Astrix Health is a US-based startup that builds an AI-powered procurement platform for automated medical‑supply purchasing.

The company integrates its HealthFlow technology with existing practice management systems to analyze spending patterns, compare vendor pricing, identify cost‑effective alternatives, and generate predictive inventory alerts.

It also leverages generative AI agents to streamline workflows and minimize disruptions for providers. The platform delivers data‑driven vendor recommendations and alerts practices before stockouts occur to improve purchasing efficiency.

This way, the company supports clinics and healthcare institutions by reducing supply costs and freeing staff time for patient care. It optimizes supply chain operations and enables medical practices to focus resources on delivering healthcare value.

2. Precision Medicine & Multi-Omics

Precision medicine and multi-omics platforms harness genomic, proteomic, metabolomic, and microbiomic data to understand disease at a molecular level and prescribe treatments accordingly.

The decreasing costs of genome sequencing, like NovaSeq X’s list price of USD 200 per genome, along with increasing data availability, are driving the growth of the global precision medicine market. It is expected to reach USD 175.6 billion by 2030.

In parallel, the single-cell multi-omics market is projected to expand at over 18.2% CAGR. This is driven by increasing demand for integrative biomarker discovery and stratified clinical trials.

Multi-omics startup CardiaTec raised USD 6.5 million to fund its advanced drug delivery platform. Further, Tempus secured USD 411 million in its IPO to expand its AI-driven multi-omics platform, while DNAnexus, a leading data integration platform for precision medicine, raised USD 200 million in funding led by Blackstone.

Use Cases

  • Oncology Genomic Profiling: Tumor sequencing to identify actionable mutations and guide targeted therapies.
  • Pharmacogenomics: Tailoring drug prescriptions based on genetic response predictions.
  • Multi-Omics Disease Models: Combining genomic, transcriptomic, and metabolomic data to build predictive models of disease progression.
  • Prenatal & Carrier Screening: Advanced genetic testing for inherited disorders using non-invasive methods.

Adoption Trends and Key Players

Spotlighting an Innovator: DeepCARES

DeepCARES is a Saudi Arabian biomedical startup that offers an AI‑driven digital twin system for biomedical analysis.

It combines multi-omics data like genomic, proteomic, and physiological inputs with AI models to build personalized, digital patient representations.

The system processes streams of biomedical data to simulate individual health trajectories and predict treatment responses through continuous model adaptation. It also integrates predictive analytics, personalized intervention planning, and multi-scale physiological modeling to offer real-time, patient‑specific insights.

DeepCARES enhances clinical decision support by identifying health risks. This platform personalizes healthcare delivery and improves patient outcomes through data‑backed, anticipatory medical care.

3. Virtual-First & Hybrid Care

Virtual-first and hybrid care models offer continuous, accessible, and cost-effective services. These models combine digital-first consultations, remote patient monitoring, and in-person care when necessary.

The global telehealth market is projected to surpass USD 851 billion by 2032 with a CAGR of 25.7%.

Meanwhile, hybrid care platforms are adopted across primary care, behavioral health, and chronic care management as health systems seek to reduce infrastructure costs.

Digital health startups raised over USD 3 billion compared to USD 2.7 billion in 2025.

Some notable deals include Omada Health, the virtual chronic care startup, raising USD 150 million, and K Health securing USD 50 million to develop AI-driven primary care via chat.

Use Cases

  • Virtual Primary Care: Companies like Teladoc Health and One Medical offer continuous access to general practitioners through mobile apps.
  • Remote Behavioral Therapy: Platforms such as BetterHelp and Talkspace provide virtual therapy sessions to support mental health at scale with licensed professionals.
  • Chronic Disease Management: Tools like Omada Health and Livongo use digital coaching, connected devices, and remote monitoring to improve diabetes, hypertension, and obesity management.
  • Post-Operative Virtual Monitoring: Hospitals like the Mayo Clinic use hybrid models for post-surgery care. Such solutions enable recovery tracking, early detection of complications, and patient education via video and app check-ins.

Adoption Trends and Key Players

Spotlighting an Innovator: Heuplus

Heuplus is an Estonian company that builds a cross‑border telemedicine platform. It connects patients to native‑speaking doctors worldwide via a round‑the‑clock virtual consultation platform.

The platform routes patient requests through a multilingual interface and matches them with qualified providers based on language preferences and medical needs. It also features secure collaboration, appointment scheduling, and medication management.

It ensures GDPR and HIPAA alignment by processing and protecting personal and health data in compliance. This way, the platform empowers patients and providers with inclusive, efficient telehealth collaboration.

4. Digital Twins & Predictive Digital Trials

Digital twins and predictive digital trials simulate real-time patient physiology and forecast treatment outcomes to advance clinical research, diagnostics, and treatment planning.

A digital twin in healthcare continuously updates with live clinical data to model disease progression, drug response, or surgical outcomes.

The global digital twin market in healthcare is expected to reach USD 59.94 billion by 2030, with a CAGR of 68%.

 

 

Digital clinical trial solutions, including AI-based patient recruitment, synthetic control arms, and virtual monitoring, are reducing trial timelines. Decentralized approaches have also increased enrollment by 50% with a 10-25% trial cost reduction.

In Q1 2025, the average deal size of digital health has reached USD 27 million, with a considerable increase of 85% year-on-year. Flagship rounds included Twin Health raising USD 50 million to scale its whole-body digital twin for metabolic disease.

Similarly, unlearn.ai raised a Series C of USD 50 million to expand its synthetic control arm twins. Spain’s Quibim also closed a USD 50.6 million Series A to commercialize organ-level imaging twins.

Use Cases

  • Patient-Specific Treatment Simulation: Cardiac digital twins simulate heart surgery outcomes and minimize complications while optimizing surgical plans.
  • Synthetic Control Arms: AI-modeled placebo arms are used in clinical trials to reduce patient recruitment needs while maintaining statistical validity.
  • Drug Development Optimization: Pharma companies leverage digital twins to simulate molecule interaction and predict patient stratification. This shortens early-stage R&D cycles.
  • Clinical Trial Virtualization: Offers end-to-end decentralized clinical trial services using predictive modeling and remote data collection.

Adoption Trends and Key Players

  • Siemens Healthineers offers BioDigital Twin technology to model organ-level outcomes pre-procedure for cardiac and radiology applications.
  • Unlearn.AI collaborates with pharma companies to integrate synthetic control arms into FDA-reviewed Phase II/III trials.
  • Dassault Systemes‘ Living Heart Project builds high-fidelity digital organs for simulation-based planning in cardiology and medical device testing.
  • Medable supports over 300 decentralized clinical trials globally and reports 200% faster enrollment rates using predictive algorithms and patient-centric design.

Spotlighting an Innovator: GigaTwin Digital

GigaTwin Digital is an Indian company that develops an AI⁠‑driven digital twin platform for home healthcare management. It combines non‑invasive sensors, AI analytics, and conversational agents to continuously monitor health metrics and construct a personalized digital replica.

The platform processes streamed data through AI algorithms to trigger predictive alerts and recommend prescriptive actions around lifestyle, medication, diet, yoga, and stress control.

It also leverages a digital twin to simulate health trajectories and forecast disease onset, while embedding a 24×7 helpline and network of medical and wellness specialists. This supports chronic and critical-care pathways for diabetes, cardiovascular, as well as neurological and post-traumatic conditions.

GigaTwin Digital enables continuous, preventive care at home by combining digital twin simulations, AI‑guided interventions, and integrated specialist support to improve health outcomes.

5. 3D Bioprinting & Regenerative Platforms

3D bioprinting and regenerative medicine are advancing tissue engineering and personalized therapeutics by facilitating the creation of intricate biological structures, layer by layer, using living cells, biomaterials, and growth factors.

These platforms are moving from research labs to clinical settings and offer solutions for organ shortage, trauma repair, chronic wound healing, and drug testing.

Reflecting this change, the global 3D bioprinting market is projected to reach USD 4.5 billion by 2033, at a CAGR of 16.5%. Regenerative medicine, encompassing cell therapies, tissue scaffolds, and stem-cell engineering, is estimated to reach USD 413.29 billion by 2032.

3D bioprinting continues to draw dedicated capital. For instance, Aspect Biosystems secured a USD 72.75 million public-funding package to scale clinical-grade tissue printing and manufacturing.

Similarly, Carcinotech raised GBP 4.2 million to commercialize patient-specific tumor models.

Use Cases

  • Bioprinted Skin & Tissues: Patient-specific skin grafts and cartilage are used for burn victims and joint repair.
  • Organ-on-Chip Models: Used for pharmaceutical testing, these microfluidic bioprinted systems simulate organ physiology to improve drug safety and efficacy predictions.
  • Bioengineered Bone & Cartilage: Researchers at ETH Zurich and MIT have developed printed bone scaffolds seeded with stem cells for faster healing.
  • Transplantable Organoids: Regenerative medicine is advancing kidney and liver organoid printing for eventual transplantation trials.

Adoption Trends and Key Players

  • Organovo develops liver and kidney tissues for disease modeling and drug discovery in collaboration with leading pharma firms.
  • CELLINK supplies bio-inks and multi-head bioprinters for use in academic and industry labs.
  • United Therapeutics is developing transplant-ready human lungs using 3D bioprinting to address the global organ shortage, with plans to bring them to market within the next decade.

Spotlighting an Innovator: Jetbio

UK-based startup Jetbio offers a reactive jet impingement (ReJI) 3D bioprinting system, designed to fabricate biomimetic tissue constructs with precision and physiological relevance.

The platform jets two liquid precursors, one containing cells suspended in a cross-linking solution and another a polymer solution. So they collide mid-air and form structure cell-laden hydrogels that can be deposited onto nearly any substrate. This contactless approach minimizes clogging issues and supports complex tissue architectures.

The ReJI system integrates microvalves, custom printheads, advanced bio-inks, and user-friendly control software to ensure high cell density and fast print speeds. By enabling the rapid fabrication of diverse in vitro models, Jetbio enhances applications in drug discovery and regenerative medicine.

This way, Jetbio provides efficient in vitro tissue engineering to reduce drug development costs and accelerate preclinical testing.

6. Robotics and Smart Automation

From autonomous delivery robots to AI-enhanced surgical systems, robotics and smart automation technologies address workforce shortages, improve consistency, and reduce human errors.

The global healthcare robotics market is expected to reach USD 31.87 billion by 2030 at a CAGR of 15.29%. Surgical robots dominate this growth.

Smart automation technologies, including automated pharmacy systems and autonomous mobile robots (AMRs), are being widely deployed to reduce manual tasks and scale operations.

In Q1 2025, global robotics funding hit USD 2.26 billion, with more than 70% flowing into specialized robotics startups targeting verticals like robotic picking and warehouse automation.

Major deals include Capstan Medical raising USD 110 million to advance its trans-septal heart-valve surgical robot and Mendaera securing USD 73 million to develop a handheld soft-tissue robotics platform.

Use Cases

  • Robotic-Assisted Surgery: Enhances minimally invasive capabilities in urology, cardiology, oncology, and more.
  • Hospital Delivery Robots: Handle internal hospital deliveries like medications, lab samples, and food to save nurses their shift time.
  • Pharmacy Automation: Robotic systems manage inventory, fulfill prescriptions, and reduce medication errors.
  • Rehabilitation Robotics: Wearable exoskeletons assist stroke and spinal injury patients in regaining mobility.

Adoption Trends and Key Players

Spotlighting an Innovator: Essential Robotics

Essential Robotics is a Danish company that builds an autonomous mobile robot for healthcare logistics. It uses simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM)-enabled navigation, AI-driven path planning, and vision-based sensing to transport empty beds and supplies in hospitals.

The startup also integrates robust mechatronics and safety features to operate reliably alongside staff and patients while adapting to different facility layouts . It reduces manual bed movement while lowering injury risk and freeing personnel for patient‑focused tasks.

7. Cyber-Physical Security & Zero Trust

As healthcare becomes increasingly digitized, cyber-physical threats are targeting life-critical infrastructure, including connected medical devices, hospital networks, and patient-facing platforms.

Healthcare has become the most breached industry for 13 consecutive years, with over 133 million individuals affected by data breaches in the US alone.

Further, ransomware attacks on hospitals rose by 128% year-over-year, frequently disrupting surgeries, emergency care, and diagnostic services.

Moreover, global healthcare cybersecurity spending is projected to exceed USD 56.3 billion by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 18.5% as health systems invest in next-gen security frameworks.

Zero tTrust aArchitecture (ZTA), combined with advanced cyber-physical systems (CPS) security, is fast becoming a strategic necessity to protect patient safety and ensure operational continuity.

The zero-trust model enforces identity, device, and workload-level authentication, especially across distributed environments like cloud-hosted EHRs, IoMT networks, and telehealth endpoints. 61% of health systems reported investing in zero trust pilots or implementations, according to HIMSS data.

Use Cases

  • Secure Internet of Medical Things (IoMT): Monitors and segments connected medical devices to detect anomalous behavior and prevent lateral threat movement.
  • Ransomware Containment: Health systems are deploying AI-based intrusion detection and microsegmentation to isolate infected nodes and maintain continuity of care.
  • Zero Trust in Cloud EHRs: ZTA frameworks enhance security in cloud-based deployments of the EHR systems by enforcing continuous, risk-based authentication.

Adoption Trends and Key Players

  • Medigate by Claroty is integrated in over 2000 hospitals to provide real-time visibility, threat detection, and policy enforcement in medical devices and IoMT networks.
  • Palo Alto Networks and Zscaler are among the top vendors deploying zero trust for healthcare enterprises. It integrates multi-factor authentication (MFA), encryption, and behavior-based threat detection.
  • The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) mandates new security standards and provides USD 50 million in grants for rural hospital cyber readiness.
  • Mayo Clinic and Cedars-Sinai are early adopters of full zero-trust frameworks that combine identity-first access, network segmentation, and AI-powered detection systems.

Spotlighting an Innovator: Blackwell Security

Blackwell Security is a US-based startup that develops a managed healthcare extended detection and response (MHXDR) platform, Blackwell Pulse. The company unifies telemetry across clinical and operational assets without replacing existing tools.

The platform’s AI‑driven threat detection, contextual exposure analysis, dark web monitoring, and healthcare‑specific playbooks enrich alerts and detect meaningful risks.

Further, the platform implements continuous monitoring and automated containment through its Cyber Fusion Center. It blends hyper‑automated AI response with expert‑guided remediation to reduce alert fatigue and accelerate triage times.

The platform neutralizes threats in real time and secures connected medical devices, clinical IoT, and electronic PHI to protect both patient safety and healthcare operations.

External Disruptors & Competitive Forces

Healthcare is increasingly shaped by macro forces beyond traditional clinical and operational domains. This requires agility from health systems and innovators alike.

  • Demographic Shifts: By 2050, the global population over age 65 will double to reach 1.6 billion, driving demand for geriatric care, long-term services, and age-tech. Meanwhile, Gen Z will make up 30% of the global workforce by 2030. They prioritize mental health, digital access, and wellness-oriented care models.
  • Retail & Tech Entrants: Amazon’s healthcare strategy includes Amazon Clinic, One Medical, and PillPack to disrupt pharmacy, virtual primary care, and employer health. Apple’s HealthKit and ResearchKit frameworks integrate wellness tracking with provider systems. In Asia, super-apps like Ping An Good Doctor, with over 400 million users, and Tata’s 1mg, with 31% market share, are reshaping access, convenience, and health data ownership.
  • Policy & Payment Reform: The US 21st Century Cures Act enforces real-time, API-based data exchange, while cross-border telemedicine licensure is gaining traction in the EU and ASEAN regions. Value-based contracts account for over 64.3% of Medicare Advantage payments.
  • Economic Volatility: Global inflation, which peaked at 8.7% in 2022 and is currently at 2.9% now, continues to exert pressure on healthcare systems. In the US, hospital labor costs have increased, with contract labor alone exceeding USD 51.1 billion. Supply chain costs are also rising due to ongoing trade disruptions and new tariffs on medical imports. Simultaneously, higher interest rates and declining cash reserves are tightening capital spending.
  • ESG & Climate Regulations: 35+ jurisdictions are already rolling out mandatory climate risk disclosure frameworks impacting healthcare organizations. Green building certification for hospitals is also now a compliance requirement in regions like the EU and California. This indicates that healthcare facilities contribute to 4.4% of global carbon emissions.

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