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Thriving in the New Data-Driven Healthcare Market

How are data and technology transforming healthcare? Just scan the headlines over the past few years to see that the gene editing technique CRISPR, artificial intelligence and machine learning, and Precision Medicine are just a few of the leading trends changing the practice of medicine and healthcare administration. And with a global market value exceeding trillions of dollars, traditional investors and venture capital companies are competing to fund the sector, creating data driven healthcare “unicorns” with greater than $1 billion valuation, like Oscar Health1,2. In my 2017 book MoneyBall Medicine: Thriving in the New Data-Driven Healthcare Market, I interviewed key thought leaders, doctors, and healthcare innovators to hear how data and technology are changing the life sciences industry and every aspect of healthcare: from how patients are being diagnosed and treated to Big Data’s role driving both population health and personalized medicine. I described how digital health and wearable devices, from diabetes apps integrated with blood glucose monitors to smart watches that can identify heart arrhythmias, give consumers greater control over their data and health. I spoke with doctors who described how new medical imaging software, based on advanced machine learning technology and genomic testing, were helping them identify barely perceptible changes in tissues and tumors more quickly and accurately than ever before—and the impact of this technology on physician workflow and utilization management.

This change comes with tremendous opportunity for startups and existing businesses alike and is creating an environment that is more revolutionary than evolutionary. The healthcare and life sciences industries are becoming more diverse, competitive, and leveraging tools and ideas that have already transformed other fields, such as banking and manufacturing. Mergers and acquisitions are occurring at a rapid pace, partnering organizations that wouldn’t have been suggested even a few years ago. Pharmacy giant CVS’s buyout of insurer Aetna is just one example; the new Amazon-JP Morgan-Berkshire Hathaway healthcare venture led by physician Atul Gawande is another. Healthcare is drawing tech companies, like Google, Microsoft, and Apple, bringing new ideas and technologies to an industry that has long been in the stranglehold of Byzantine regulations and siloed business models and data. Investors are pushing startups into unicorn status, fueling a data driven healthcare revolution that shows little signs of slowing down. Interoperability, innovation, and standardization are the new healthcare paradigms.

I took a broad look at these topics in MoneyBall Medicine through more than 2 dozen interviews with some of the individuals at the forefront of this new healthcare frontier. In my new MoneyBall Medicine Podcast, I continue these conversations. Listeners will hear how these visionaries are using the ideas behind MoneyBall Medicine in their companies today, pushing past existing barriers to develop the healthcare of the future. We revisit some of the examples described in the book and hear new stories about how their companies continue to transform in this data- and tech-driven environment and we discuss what the future holds for the industry in general. We explore the financial implications, from mergers and acquisitions, to venture funding and the data driven companies, of MoneyBall Medicine. From CEOs and hospital administrators to scientists and investors, there’s something for everyone in the MoneyBall Medicine Podcast!

  1. Farr, C. 2018. Oscar Health, Josh Kushner’s health insurance start-up, raises $165 million from Alphabet and others. CNBC. https://www.cnbc.com/2018/03/27/oscar-health-raises-165-million-at-3-point-2-billion-alphabet-founders.html
  2. Garde, D. 2018. Biotech’s biggest unicorn is now worth $7.5 billion. STAT. https://www.statnews.com/2018/02/01/biotech-unicorn-7-billion-moderna/