Dive Brief:
- The internet of connected medical things (IoMT) market is expected to reach $158 billion by 2022, up from $41 billion last year, according to a new Deloitte report. The challenge for manufacturers is how to demonstrate to payers and providers that connected medical devices can benefit value-based care.
- Deloitte surveyed 237 medtech leaders to learn how the IoMT is disrupting medtech’s role in healthcare. More than half (51%) of respondents said they are implementing new business models to drive innovation and sales.
- Nearly one-third (31%) are deploying new funding models for data-as-a-service and 29% are adopting value-based pricing. In addition, 43% reported using real-world evidence to drive business decisions.
Dive Insight:
Connected medical devices and the IoMT has the potential to transform healthcare and improve patient outcomes through better disease management and remote monitoring of chronic diseases, improved drug management, and enhanced patient experience — while, at the same time, helping to reduce costs.
Major market segments by application include telemedicine, worth $12.9 billion in 2017, clinical operations ($8.8 billion), medication management ($6.6 billion), connected imaging ($5.7 billion) and inpatient monitoring ($5 billion).
But while the market is booming, there are still numerous challenges facing IoMT developers.
According to Deloitte, 71% of respondents feel hospitals and clinicians are not ready to use the data generated by connected devices and 67% believe it will take another five years for FDA's regulatory framework for digital devices and medical software to catch up to what is possible today.
"Different types of innovation will require different business models, and progress will depend on both the innovators themselves working in new ways to take on risks and rewards, and the evolution of existing payment systems by both public and private payers," the report says.
Other major challenges include interoperability and cybersecurity. "Interoperability is arguably the biggest challenge for medtech, including complying with various national and international standards and protocols around the exchange and use of data," according to the report. "There are also technical challenges such as creating an integrated governance framework and obtaining consent for access to health care data."
A number of EHR vendors have started to shift to open platforms, and Monday, Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Oracle, IBM and Salesforce announced an agreement to jointly commit to "removing barriers for the adoption of technologies for healthcare interoperability, particularly those that are enabled through the cloud and AI."
Meanwhile, as more devices communicate in the ethersphere, companies overestimate their readiness to deal with cyberattacks. While four-fifths of respondents believe they are reasonably well prepared with the cybersecurity of their products, numerous studies suggest otherwise, the report says. In fact, a recent simulation by security firm McAfee showed just how easy it is for someone with ill intent to tamper with patient vital signs monitored on a hospital's network.
Other challenges include gaining an in-depth understanding of end users and determining what's needed to scale up in the clinical space while ensuring providers and the public that patient data is protected and used responsibly. There is also concern that a growing skills gap could slow development of IoMT devices and slow market growth, the report says.