The 3 MedTech Trends You Need to Know in 2022

Many years ago, science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke declared that:

“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic”.

In the original Knight Rider TV series, first aired in 1982, viewers were amazed when they saw a man talking to his watch and a car responding to voice commands. At the time, it seemed so preposterous to think that these things could ever happen in real life.

Yet here we are in 2022 with smart watches commonplace and many electric cars now having voice control built in. Neuralink, Elon Musk’s brain chip start-up has already tested implants on a macaque and a pig, implants that Musk believes could one day allow paralyzed people to walk again.

As Arthur Clarke would no doubt say if he was alive today…“magic!”

Many of the technology that we take for granted today seemed impossible even a decade ago. This is particularly true of MedTech, where change continues to be particularly rapid. From wearables to gene editing, vaccine development to biohacking, it can easily seem like change is the only constant in the MedTech industry.

So, what are the key trends in MedTech you need to be aware of?

As a 360 digital marketing agency active in the MedTech vertical, we have an exceptionally good long-term view of the industry. Here, in no particular order, are three of the MedTech trends we see for 2022:

1 - Remote health

While remote consultations (telemedicine) had been slowly gaining traction previously, the COVID-19 global pandemic accelerated their adoption, acceptance, and normalization.

With in-person appointments being temporarily limited (or completely stopped) in some countries during the initial stage of the pandemic, patients were directed to speak with their doctor, nurse, or other healthcare professional over the Internet or by telephone instead. The result? What was once seen as unusual is today perceived as routine.

With data becoming more readily available via wearables and other IoT medical devices such as blood glucose monitors, healthcare practitioners and patients can use real-time information to inform their treatment (see point below). This means that in many cases and for many conditions, proximity to a healthcare provider is not as essential as it used to be. Geography no longer necessarily needs to be a limiting factor.

Of course, where closer interaction is necessary, different options may be available, whether technological (such as a dedicated mobile app) or in-person (for example, through a network of specialists on the ground).

2 – Data-based & personalized care

Accurate data is becoming ever-more crucial to effective, personalized healthcare. Whether this is data from diagnostic equipment in hospitals or wearables such as an Apple Watch or a Fitbit device, large (and increasing) amounts of data are being captured, processed, and used to inform individuals of certain health markers.

In the smartwatch market, Apple is estimated to have shipped 33.9 million Apple Watches in 2020 alone. Fitbit had 30 million active users in the same year. With Google buying Fitbit for $2 billion in 2021⁶, they clearly see the wearable market as an important opportunity. As Google is primarily known as a data-driven company, it will be interesting to see how they use Fitbit as a brand going forward.

Of course, data is useless by itself. It only becomes useful – valuable – when it is analyzed and used to personalize treatment. Increased use of AI to automate such data analysis means personalized treatment is more readily available.

3 - Cybersecurity

While medical devices, IT, healthcare services and biotechnology were previously perceived as separate from one another, the Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) has seen these areas converge on one another as they have grown and developed.

As more health data is captured, processed, and analyzed, the security of that data become an increasingly pressing – and costly - issue.

In May 2017, a cyber-attack cost the National Health Service in England an estimated £92 million and 19,000 cancelled appointments. When we remember that this was before COVID-19, it’s easy to see how much more devastating a similar attack could be today when MedTech is used and relied upon even more.

With cyberattacks on the increase year upon year, larger amounts of personal medical data stored in the cloud becomes an ever more attractive target for hackers, whether criminal gang or state sponsored.

It is this ongoing (and increasing) threat of cyber-attack that means MedTech companies need to ensure, as a bare minimum, their compliance with all relevant regulatory requirements when it comes to data capture, processing, storage, and transmission.

Are you up for the challenge?

The trends we described above are only three of many that we see for MedTech in 2022. Despite so many potential challenges on the horizon in 2022 – whether due to COVID-19, data processing requirements, or ongoing supply chain delays - we remain convinced that 2022 still offers smart, dynamic MedTech companies – particularly those working with us - an exceptional opportunity to accelerate their growth.

If you don’t have complete clarity about what this would look like for your company, or (more likely) you’re disappointed with the results you’re getting from your current ad spend and/or marketing partner, we can show you how to get better results, faster.

Why MedGen?

At MedGen, our dedicated MedTech team combines data (both historical and real-time) with our industry-leading proprietary machine learning and tracking technology, to ensure ongoing optimization of your marketing campaigns.

As part of the Creative Clicks Group, we’re able to provide our clients with global coverage, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Benefitting from our combination of creative and AI-driven optimization, you will have:

• A data-driven strategy to ensure an efficient market activation, focused audience targeting and continuous improvement in ROI
• A/B testing through our in-house machine learning technology
• Fast access to a team of MedTech specialists to deliver you with a complete conversion funnel

As you would expect, all our solutions are GDPR/HIPAA compliant.

Partnering with our highly experienced team (who are already deeply involved in the MedTech vertical) will ensure you meet – and potentially exceed - your business goals in 2022.

Many smart MedTech companies have already chosen to partner with us to ensure their marketing success. Get in touch with us today to discover how we could help you.