GLOBAL CONVERGENCE IN HEALTHCARE MARKET SIZE AND SHARE ANALYSIS - GROWTH TRENDS AND FORECASTS (2023 - 2030)

Global convergence in healthcare market size is expected to reach US$ 297 Bn by 2030, from US$ 125 Bn in 2023, exhibiting a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 13.2% during the forecast period.

The convergence of technologies is radically transforming the healthcare industry. Various devices and services are combining to create new integrated products and solutions. On the medical product front, the integration of telehealth is being witnessed with remote patient monitoring devices. This allows for vital signs and other health data to be captured non-invasively from patients at home and transmitted securely to healthcare providers. Conditions like blood pressure, blood sugar, weight and electrocardiogram can be monitored regularly without visiting a doctor's office due to small wearable devices linked to apps. This offers advantages like early detection of health changes, more convenience, and lower costs. However, data security and privacy continue to be challenges. 

Global Convergence in Healthcare Market - Regional Insights

• North America is expected to be the largest market for convergence in healthcare during the forecast period, accounting for over 35.7% of the market share in 2023. North America has established itself as the dominant regional market for convergence in healthcare. This is due to well-established healthcare infrastructure and high healthcare expenditure. The U.S. is the single largest market globally due to presence of major medical device players and hospital chains. The region is an early adopter of new technologies and has favorable regulatory environment supporting innovation. Most global players have their headquarters located in the U.S. and focus on research and development (R&D) to develop new solutions first for the North American market.
• Asia Pacific market is expected to be the second-largest market for convergence in healthcare, accounting for over 25.2% of the market share in 2023. Asia Pacific has emerged as the fastest growing regional market for convergence healthcare. Countries like China, India, and Japan are witnessing significant growth due to increasing expenditure on healthcare, growing middle class, expanding insurance coverage and large patient pools. Both India and China also offer low-cost manufacturing and clinical trial destinations which makes them an attractive hub for global medical device players for domestic sales and exports. Aging population in Japan is driving demand for advanced healthcare solutions to improve patient care and treatment outcomes. Governments across the region are investing heavily in digitalization of healthcare and promoting technology adoption. This is positively impacting the convergence market growth.
• Europe market is expected to be the fastest-growing market for convergence in healthcare, with a share of 19% during the forecast period. The growth of the market in Europe is due to the increasing prevalence of coronary artery disease in the region.

Figure 1. Global Convergence in Healthcare Market Share (%), By Region, 2023

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Analyst View: The convergence landscape in the healthcare market is evolving at a rapid pace due to several technological advancements. Growing adoption of connected devices, artificial intelligence (AI), 5G networks and telehealth services are some of the major drivers facilitating the convergence of information technology and healthcare. This convergence allows for improved patient outcomes, personalized care experiences, and reduced healthcare costs significantly over time. North America dominates the convergence in healthcare market due to presence of advanced healthcare infrastructure and high healthcare expenditure in the U.S. However, Asia Pacific is expected to provide most growth opportunities due to rising healthcare expenditure, growing medical tourism industry, and increasing investments by governments to develop smart healthcare infrastructure in the region. Though regulatory issues around data privacy, security, and interoperability pose challenges, the healthcare convergence promises huge opportunities for stakeholders. Integration of technologies like AI, machine learning and cloud computing can help to deliver preventive and pre-diagnosis of diseases thereby improving patient health across populations. Virtual nursing assisted by AI has the potential to address issues of nursing staff shortages while still providing quality care. Collaboration between pharmaceutical companies, healthcare providers, and med-tech firms can further promote personalized treatment pathways and precision medicine.

Global Convergence in Healthcare Market - Drivers

• Aging population and need for improved healthcare access: As the global population continues to age significantly, there will be an ever-growing need for improved healthcare solutions and access. Older individuals tend to need more medical care and assistance to maintain quality of life, thereby putting increased pressure on existing healthcare frameworks. By 2050, the number of people aged 60 years or older is expected to total 2 billion worldwide, up from 1 billion in 2020. Many nations will witness a substantial jump in their percentage of elderly residents, requiring support. This demographic shift creates challenges for social systems and family support networks but also presents opportunities for new innovations. Convergence of technologies promises to help address the demands of an aging population by enhancing access to care, improving health monitoring and management of chronic conditions, thereby assisting with daily living, and reducing costs. Several converging areas such as telehealth, remote patient monitoring, digital therapeutics, and AI-based clinical support tools allow for more care to be safely provided in homes and communities rather than traditional centers. This allows elderly and those with limited mobility to receive quality medical attention, rehabilitation services, medication management, and social connection without the need for as much in-person visits or long-term institutionalization. Data collected from connected devices and systems also enables more proactive and predictive strategies for preventing or delaying the onset of illnesses. Overall, the convergence of technologies has strong potential to make healthcare systems more suitable and sustainable for the realities of widespread demographic aging.
• Increased focus on preventive medicine and consumerism: In addition to adapting for an older population, healthcare models must also become more focused on preventive strategies and empowering individuals as engaged consumers. Rising costs that are associated with treatment of chronic diseases and hospital visits have illuminated the need for interventions earlier in the disease process. However, traditional medical frameworks prioritize sick care over proactive wellness management. The convergence of digital health with fields such as nutrition, fitness, and behavioral science gives way to more personalized, data-driven approaches for influencing lifestyle factors, and avoiding costly complications down the road.
• Increasing product launch: Increasing adoption of inorganic growth strategies such as product launch is expected to drive the market growth over the forecast period. For instance, on August 23, 2023, FUJIFILM Holdings, a medical technology company, launched 1.5 Tesla magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system, the ECHELON Synergy. The system employs Synergy DLR, Fujifilm’s proprietary Deep Learning Reconstruction (DLR) technology powered by artificial intelligence (AI), to enhance the sharpness of images and acquire scans faster, thereby contributing to higher throughput, image quality, and patient satisfaction.

Global Convergence in Healthcare Market- Opportunities

• Emerging markets in Asia Pacific and Latin America: Emerging markets in developing nations present a massive opportunity for convergence in the global healthcare market. These developing economies are experiencing rapid urbanization and wealth accumulation among their populations. As standards of living increase, healthcare demands and expectations rise substantially. People in these nations aspire to access advanced medical technologies, innovative treatments, quality care facilities and integrated healthcare systems on par with developed world standards. This evolution in healthcare needs and purchasing power sets the stage for the globalization of next-generation products, services, and delivery frameworks. Leading multinational corporations have the potential to introduce cutting-edge solutions that address the emerging core requirements of these new consumer segments in an affordable and wide-reaching manner. Areas such as telemedicine, digital health records, medical device miniaturization, affordable diagnostics, preventive care approaches and supply chain optimizations catering to remote populations can achieve significant scale if tailored to local realities.
• Rising healthcare expenditure: The significant factor influencing the growth rate of the global convergence in healthcare market is the growing healthcare expenditure, which helps in improving its infrastructure. For instance, according to the International Health Care System of the U.S., in June 2020, U.S. government organizations aim to improve the healthcare infrastructure by increasing funding, setting legislation, and national strategies, and cofounding and setting basic requirements and regulations for the Medicaid program. Similarly, in November 2022, the Canadian Institute for Health Information reported that the total healthcare expenditure in Canada was US$ 331 billion in 2022, or US$ 8,563 per Canadian, while health expenditure represented 12.2% of Canada's gross domestic product (GDP) in 2022, following a high of 13.8% in 2020.

Global Convergence in Healthcare Market- Trends

• Blockchain technology applications: Blockchain technology is significantly influencing the global convergence in healthcare market by enabling more secure and transparent data sharing between multiple stakeholders. By leveraging blockchain's decentralized and immutable nature, patient's medical records can be securely stored and accessed in a distributed ledger. This removes single points of data storage failures or control and allows easy, compliant, and safe data exchange between payers, providers and life sciences organizations. Some significant blockchain applications in healthcare include clinical trial management, supply chain management, medical database management and insurance claims processing. For example, in clinical trials management, blockchain allows researchers to securely capture and store patient consent forms, trial protocol details, safety reports and study results in an immutable record. This improves transparency, traceability and auditability significantly. Pharmaceutical companies can track drugs throughout the supply chain and ensure quality, authenticity and cold chain integrity using blockchain.

Global Convergence in Healthcare Market - Restraints

• High costs associated with advanced healthcare technologies: High costs associated with advanced healthcare technologies are significantly restraining the growth of the global convergence in healthcare market. Cutting-edge technologies in healthcare such as AI, internet-of-things (IoT), robotics, remote patient monitoring, telehealth and virtual care solutions require substantial investments in R&D, infrastructure development, and ongoing operational costs. While the benefits of these new technologies are immense, the initial capital expenditures and maintenance costs pose a massive barrier for widespread adoption, especially in price-sensitive and low-resource settings.
• Lack of digital healthcare infrastructure in developing countries: Lack of digital healthcare infrastructure in developing nations is significantly hampering the growth of the global convergence in healthcare market. Many developing countries still have poor public health systems with limited access to healthcare facilities, medical professionals, and technologies even in urban areas. The rural regions often have almost no access to basic healthcare amenities. This is where the potential of convergence driven healthcare models involving digital technologies could have helped improve the reach, access, quality and affordability of healthcare.

Counterbalance: Proper digital healthcare infrastructure needs to be provided by the key market players in the developing nations, specially the rural regions, which lacks the basic amenities of healthcare.

Figure 2. Global Convergence in Healthcare Market Share (%), By Product Type, 2023

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Global Convergence in Healthcare Market - Recent Developments

Product Launch

• On October 17, 2023, joimax GmbH, a medical technology company, announced the launch of iLESSYS Biportal Interlaminar Endoscopic Surgical System for the treatment of spinal disorders. The new instrument set, iLESSYS Biportal for unilateral biportal endoscopy (UBE), expands the wide range of joimax endoscopic offerings by separating the instrument working port from the endoscope, allowing for free relative movement between the two
• On October 4, 2023, Koninklijke Philips N.V., a medical technology company, launched visual patient avatar monitoring solution. It conveys critical information about a patient’s condition through colors, movement and shapes. It all rests within an anesthesiologist’s or anesthetist’s peripheral field of view.
• On April 27, 2023, Honeywell International Inc., a healthcare company, launched a real-time health monitoring system, which captures and records patients’ vital signs both within the hospital setting and remotely. The system, designed to be continuously connected to patients, alerts clinicians to changes in patients’ vital signs, and markedly reduces the time required to collect, analyze and apply patient data as actionable insights.

Business Development Activities by the Market Players

• On December 4, 2023, GE Healthcare, a medical technology company, announced an agreement with Nantworks AirStrip, a vendor-agnostic clinical surveillance technology company, to commercialize integrated patient monitoring and cardiac data visualization for healthcare systems

Top Companies in Global Convergence in Healthcare Market

• Epic Systems Corporation
• Cerner Corporation
• Optum, Inc.
• Agfa HealthCare
• GE Healthcare
• Stryker
• Boston Scientific Corporation
• Abbott
• Baxter
• Siemens Healthineers AG
• FUJIFILM Holdings
• Koninklijke Philips N.V.
• Honeywell International Inc.
• PreXion, Inc.
• CALCiViS
• Veradigm
• Biotelemetry

Definition: Convergence in healthcare refers to the integration of various disciplines, sectors, and technologies to create a more comprehensive and patient-centric system of care. It encompasses the merging of life sciences with health services, digital technologies, and data analytics,that is aimed at improving diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of diseases. This interdisciplinary approach often involves collaboration between different stakeholders such as healthcare providers, researchers, technology companies.