The healthcare predictions for 2022 we got right

Let’s review: At the end of 2021, the Insider Intelligence digital health team drew up a list of five predictions for the coming new year. Below, we revisit three predictions that actually came to pass. (ICYMI last week, here’s one 2022 projection we’re taking the loss on.)

Prediction 1: The lines between healthcare and retail will blur even faster in 2022. And boy, did they.

• Amazon jumped into the primary care business with its surprise acquisition of One Medical for $4 billion in July. It closed its virtual care service Amazon Care in August, but opened a virtual storefront, Amazon Clinic, in November. 
• CVS Health was on the hunt for a primary care platform with national scale, but ended up buying health tech services company Signify Health for $8 billion in September.
• Walgreens’ VillageMD announced its acquisition of Summit Health for $8.9 billion in November. In October, the retail pharmacy chain bought the remaining share of CareCentrix that it didn’t already own for $392 million. The previous month, it paid $1.37 billion for the remaining stake in specialty pharmacy company Shields Health Solutions.

We predict the number of retail clinic patients will continue to climb through 2024, to 87.6 million patients (32.8% of US adults).

Prediction 2: Consumers will continue to plug themselves (and their personal health data) into smart wearables and RPM devices.

• The pandemic accelerated the shift to at-home workouts and digital fitness—and that trend has stuck. Just 7% of US consumers who exercise said the gym was the only place for them, compared with 43% who planned to exercise only at home, per a Toluna survey.
• 70% of wearables users said smartwatches and fitness trackers improved their fitness and health—30% said these devices did so “significantly,” per Deloitte’s Connectivity and Mobile Trends report taken in Q1 2022.
• We predict the number of smart wearables users will reach 100.2 million US adults in 2026 (28.9% of the population).

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. Tackling consumers’ nonmedical needs such as food and/or housing insecurity, lack of transportation, and language barriers aligns with a business model that incentivizes higher quality care and reduced spending.

• Google announced several projects aimed at addressing health equity in September as part of its Health Equity Summit.
• Those included: a YouTube Health video series called THE-IQ with the Kaiser Family Foundation; updated search functionality to let users filter results for providers that accept Medicaid; and expanding the Fitbit Health Equity Research Initiative.

This article originally appeared in Insider Intelligence's Digital Health Briefing—a daily recap of top stories reshaping the healthcare industry. Subscribe to have more hard-hitting takeaways delivered to your inbox daily.

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