EHRs, Big Data Emerging Trends in Digital Health
On Monday, start up incubator Rock Health released its midyear report on the state of digital health. The report reflects investment in digital health technology grew by 12 percent over last year. Rock Health helps fund innovative health technology start ups through a four-month seed program. The company began tracking digital health funding efforts with the release of the first Rock Report on the topic in 2011.  Not surprising, the report shows traditional investment in biotechnology and medical devices on the decline, in direct contrast to increased funding in software and digital. For digital health,  the company reports $849M invested in 90 companies, 12% up from the same time period in 2012.
In an article discussing the emerging trends in digital health investment, Rock Health founder Halle Tecco writes:
While not growing as fast as software (which is up 38% in Q1 2013 versus the prior year quarter), digital health has been outpacing traditional healthcare, where investments have dropped precipitously. Medical device funding is down 29% and biotech is down 2% in the first quarter.
Emerging themes of digital health investing in 2013 include:
- Remote Patient Monitoring
- Analytics and Big Data
- Electronic Health Records
- Wellness
- Personal Health Tools and Tracking
It’s a good time to be a digital health startup in Silicon Valley, where many of the funded startups call home. Over half the states had at least one funded company, and eight states had three or more.
In the electronic health records sector, the report reflects what a busy year it has been for acquisitions. Not listed here is the recent acquisition of EHR vendor SuccessEHS by Vitera Healthcare.
For healthcare entrepreneurs keen on connecting with investors, Rock Health will be hosting their 3rd annual Health Innovation Summit in San Francisco in August. You can view the slide show of the companies mid-year report here.