The effects were immediate for the digital health community. Digital health funding in Q1 2022 reached $6 billion, marking a 17.8% drop from Q4 2021’s $7.3 billion. By the end of Q2 2022, it was plain that the tide had turned for digital health investors. Just $4.2 billion went to funding deals, per Rock Health.

It makes sense for digital health startups to partner with Uber or Lyft and tap their consumer bases for healthcare use cases. It could be a way for digital health startups to expand their customer acquisition channels.

Digital health transformation. The merger will combine both health systems’ digital health programs and open up access to digital health tech to a larger population of patients. Atrium Health has played an active role in investing in digital health ventures.

Zooming out on health tech funding: While Tomorrow Health’s total funding just hit $93 million, digital health funding slowed down in Q1. We expect to see less funding dollars flow into digital health startups—and, in turn, more scaling down—amid economic volatility.

Over 350,000 digital health wellness apps were available to consumers last year. However, many lack clinical evidence that their solutions work—or lack easy integration with other digital health solutions. That makes it difficult to appeal to payers or employers that want precision and proof of ROI before offering a digital health app to their customers.

The “news”: 2022 was a bad year for venture capital investments in digital health, per Rock Health. Total funding in US-based digital health startups amounted to $15.3 billion across 572 deals, just over half of 2021’s record $29.3 billion. Still, it was more than 2020’s $14.7B total.

Market snapshot: Digital health players are adding femtech solutions to their digital health suites. Meanwhile, femtech startups are seeing major gains in funding, business, and membership. The majority of femtech boom activity has happened in the last year. Here are some of the most notable deals, per our tracking:.

Plus, companies like Bayer have already poured investment dollars into digital health startups over the past year: In June 2021, Bayer led symptom-checker app Ada Health’s $90 million funding round. Bayer also has a Digital Health Partnership program it leverages to fund young companies’ expansion, which means it’s likely on the hunt for new digital health investments.

AT&T’s IoT network spans all 50 states and it has already dipped its toes in the digital health space. For example, in December 2021, it partnered with Samsung and digital health firm Qure4u to provide RPM for patients with high blood pressure. AT&T connected Qure4u’s devices to its high-speed broadband network and handled the set-up, delivery, and management of the RPM devices.

The data: Health systems are prioritizing digital health technologies focused on patient access, AI, and telehealth, per a recent December 2021 KLAS and Center for Connected Medicine survey. 36% of health execs think patient access has the greatest potential to be improved with digital health tech and innovation. 38% think AI is the most exciting emerging technology in the next two years (that includes

The pandemic spurred Germany to enact nationwide digital health reforms: For example, it rolled out its Digital Healthcare Act, which entitled all insured individuals to get access to reimbursement for digital health resources, including DTx.

It offers digital health and data analytics solutions to pharma, medical device, and healthcare companies. In 2019, it launched ConvergeHealth Connect—a suite of four digital health products targeting patient engagement, public health, and personalized care, all powered by Salesforce Health Cloud. In 2020, Deloitte launched MyPath for Hospital in Home solution via ConvergeHealth’s platform.

Key stat: Funding of digital health startups using AI reached $10 billion in 2021 and $3 billion through the 1H 2022. That compares with a three-year funding total of $6 billion from 2017-2019, per a Rock Health analysis conducted for Politico. Will AI reclaim the tech buzz in 2023?

The big takeaway: We expect healthcare staffing solutions to continue gaining investor attention, despite a digital health funding slowdown.

Zooming out: The Vera-Castlight Health merger is likely a sign that the digital health IPO boom is slowing down. Instead, companies like it could increase consolidation this year to remain attractive to clients. For context, in 2014, Castlight Health was one of the first digital health companies to take the public leap.

Digital health solutions like virtual care and RPM can help power preventative healthcare and allow providers to deliver better health outcomes. For example, digital health startups like Oak Street Health and Cityblock Health are implementing community-based, preventive care models that also primarily operate within value-based environments.

But at the same time, many employers are feeling overwhelmed by the sheer number of digital health options in the market. On the flipside, there’s confusion on the employee end, too:. Most (76%) employees don’t understand their health benefits, and a minority (10%) of employees actually use their benefits, per Castlight Health data.

The trend: The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is investigating how digital health companies are protecting health data. It’s targeting advertising practices with social media platforms—but also looking for any inferred or explicit promises to keep that data private. How we got here:.

The real takeaway is what doctors are doing to improve patient experiences. 44% of physicians—both primary care and specialists—feel digital health tools help them provide better care, per AMA Digital Health Research conducted in September 2022. That was up from 36% who said the same in 2019 and just 33% in 2016.

Digital Health. Groups and Workplace. News and Audio. We examine each division through four distinctive lenses:. Business Review. Impact on the Metaverse. The Two-Year Outlook. Your Strategy. What’s Next for Meta? Our research and analysis reveal the following takeaways:.

Direct-to-consumer (D2C) brands—from digital health to consumer electronics—will follow the leaders and tout their own distinctive features that put customers in control of their data. The message will be diluted. Breaking through the noise will become increasingly difficult as the year drags on and more providers join the chorus.

Zooming out on the telehealth and RPM markets: The pandemic-induced digital health boom drove a higher need for hospital-at-home solutions—now, they’re primed to have a permanent seat in the future of healthcare.

Prediction 3: More digital health companies will expand their platforms to meet the needs of underserved consumers. Health systems and insurers ramped up their investments in social determinants of health (SDOH) this year, matching the industry’s gradual shift to value-based care.

Betting on digital health: CVS Health now serves more than 45 million unique digital customers, an increase of 1.5 million since Q1 2021. For context, last month CVS appointed Tilak Mandadi as its first chief data, digital, and technology officer.

Digital health companies will have a central role in facilitating sign-ups, healthy eating plans, shopping lists, and home deliveries. One may even come up with a way to make kale more palatable. This article originally appeared in Insider Intelligence's Digital Health Briefing—a daily recap of top stories reshaping the healthcare industry.