Recently, Venrock, a venture capital institution owned by the Rockefeller family, released the "2019 Medical Industry Forecast Report." The report surveyed 250 medical industry participants, including technology startups, head companies, insurance companies, academics, governments, investment institutions and professional service providers in the healthcare sector.

The arterial network compiled and combed the report content, focusing on the following aspects:

• First, the development trend of medical technology companies: the overall upward trend, opportunities and challenges coexist;

• Second, the technical application prospects: blockchain cold, artificial intelligence and wearable devices are favored;

• III. Policy implications: The “People's Health Insurance” program will provide new growth opportunities;

• Fourth, data security privacy issues: the debate will continue.

First, the development trend of medical technology companies: the overall upward trend, opportunities and challenges coexist

In terms of trends in medical technology companies, Venrock's survey focuses on three areas: changes in the number of medical technology companies, changes in capital investment, and reassessment of related investments in 2018.

The results show that the majority of respondents are optimistic about the overall development of the industry, but for specific projects, investors will be more cautious in decision-making.

 Will the number of medical technology companies increase? (Image taken from report)

First, most respondents are positive about the number of technology companies. 30% of the respondents believe that the number of new medical technology companies will increase significantly in the next two years, 48% of respondents believe that technology companies will increase, 14% said they remain unchanged, only 8% Respondents believe that the new medical technology company will be reduced.

Will the capital invested in medical technology increase? (Image taken from the report) 

Second, 250 respondents had different attitudes toward capital changes in medical technology companies. 22% of respondents believe that capital will maintain strong growth at all stages; 16% of respondents hold the opposite view, thinking that capital growth is very difficult in the future; other respondents' attitudes are between the former two, they It is believed that the total amount of capital invested will increase slightly, but will fluctuate at different stages.

In addition, respondents re-evaluated their investment in medical technology in 2018. It is widely believed that the valuation of unicorn companies last year was generally high, and few people regretted the investment opportunities they missed last year, which means investment in 2019. People will be more cautious about investing in specific projects.

In addition, the survey shows that the medical technology industry also has certain challenges in terms of talent recruitment and funding.

Second, the technical application prospects: blockchain cold, artificial intelligence and wearable devices are favored

Venrock asked 250 respondents what they thought about the current hot technology application prospects. The survey found that artificial intelligence, wearable devices and blockchains face a different fate.

Whether artificial intelligence has already had an impact on the healthcare sector (image capture from reports) 

First, artificial intelligence is gradually exploring its position in the medical field. The data shows that only 1% of respondents are pessimistic about the application prospects of artificial intelligence, and most people still expect artificial intelligence to make a difference in the medical field.

But this does not mean that artificial intelligence has been generally accepted, respondents are still waiting for it to make further breakthroughs, and only 7% of respondents believe that artificial intelligence has had a major impact on the health care field.

Apple Watch is a fashion product or a medical sensor device (picture taken from the report) 

In addition, more than half of the respondents believe that Apple Watch can play an active role in the medical field. According to the data, 48% of respondents believe that Apple Watch is just a fashionable consumer product, and the rest of the respondents said that it is a wearable biometric sensor and bio tracker that can be widely used in elderly activities. In real-time monitoring, 7% of respondents further stated that Apple Watch will be "the most successful atrial fibrillation monitoring device ever." 

What will be the application of the blockchain in the future (picture capture from the report) 

However, most respondents are not optimistic about the application of blockchain technology. At present, the blockchain's progress in the healthcare industry is as difficult as other industries. Venrock said that according to market practice, when new technological innovations mature in the healthcare sector, technologies that are still undeveloped will be difficult to enter.

Policy Impact: The “People's Health Insurance” program will provide new growth opportunities.

Venrock also surveyed the views of respondents from political dimensions such as the “People's Health Insurance” program, the mid-term elections, and the drug pricing policy. The results show that respondents believe that the “People's Health Insurance” program may provide new growth opportunities, while the mid-term elections and drug pricing policies have little impact on the development of medical technology companies.

Whether the “People's Health Insurance” program can provide new growth opportunities (picture taken from the report) 

In the report, the majority of respondents indicated that the “People's Health Insurance” program open to all Americans will provide new opportunities for business development; only 20% of respondents indicated that the program will pose an obstacle to growth.

Dr. Eric Topol, founder and director of the Scripps Research Institute (TSRI), said the program sees health care as a fundamental right for all citizens and does everything in its power to promote innovation in the health care system. The United Kingdom is a country with a national health insurance system and continuous innovation. It can be seen that the innovation of basic medical insurance and medical enterprises is not contradictory.

Will the midterm election affect the US health care system (picture taken from the report) 

Regarding the impact of the mid-term elections on the future health care system, 61% of the respondents believe that the mid-term elections will not affect the health care system, 11% of the respondents believe that the mid-term elections will have a positive impact, and the remaining 28% of the respondents will It is still too early to say that it is judged now.

Regarding the pricing of drugs, people are tempted to believe that drug pricing may be further restricted by the policies of the two parties in Congress. However, respondents in the professional field generally believe that pharmaceutical companies will not easily compromise policy.

Fourth, data security privacy issues: the debate will continue

With the advent of the medical big data era, people's attention to patient information security and data privacy issues is increasing. As we all know, big data brings development opportunities for medical technology companies, but it also triggers a series of legal and ethical issues related to data security.

Will medical technology companies be resisted by Facebook in violation of user privacy in the future? For this question, 270 respondents were divided into two camps, giving a completely different answer.

Whether medical technology companies will be resisted due to leakage of data privacy (picture interception report) 

Half of the respondents believe that people will not reject the benefits of big data health care because of privacy issues. They said that medical informatization companies are changing the way patients communicate with hospitals and health care institutions. The patient gained convenience, which not only simplifies the treatment process, but also better understands his condition and improves the experience of the visit.

The other half of the respondents held the opposite opinion. They believe that with the rising awareness of health and privacy protection, patients will have some resistance to such medical technology companies. Coupled with the government's enactment of more stringent laws, medical data companies need to pay more attention to protecting the privacy of patient data.

In short, the debate about the privacy of medical data will continue, and governments, businesses and the community will continue to work hard to design solutions that balance technology development and privacy.